A Place to Call Home
by ladyanaconda
Summary: In the city of Paris, at the grand Opera House, Astrid's singing career it's on the peak of fame and wealth. Her life changes when she discovers dragons, deformed escapees from a carnival, living underneath the Opera House. With the help of the stagehand and stable boy, Hiccup, she will try to find them somewhere they can safely live away from man's cruelty.
1. Overture

A Place To Call Home

**Before starting this story, there are some things I need to make clear.**

**First of all, this story takes place in Paris, France, in 1889, long after the Vikings perished, but the dragons exist alongside humans as pets, companions and beasts. However, all the HTTYD cast will appear in this story, just that their appearance and roles will be different in order to fit the date.**

**Second, this will be a combination of both the Phantom of the Opera and A Monster in Paris, with HTTYD characters and dragons, but there will be no dragonxhuman shipping (for obvious reasons) but there will eventually be a love triangle between Astrid, Hiccup and Dagur. **

**And Third, in this story, dragons are actually capable of speech, but all dragons, like animals, have a very strict law that forbids them from speaking with humans, instead doing their trademark growls, croons and noises. The main dragons in this story will eventually speak to the main characters, however. **

**Toothless and the other dragons will appear occasionally (Toothless, obviously, is gong to appear the most because he is Hiccup's dragon and best friend) but the main dragons are my recently created OCs in deviantart. The Poisonous Whiptail species belongs to Clairctures, another deviantart artist, to whom I asked for permission to use the Poisonous Whiptail in this story. **

**Well, now, on with the story.**

* * *

Overture

**Paris, France, 1885.**

**Ronaldi Carnival just outside the outskirts of the city.**

The lights of the carnival illuminated the night sky, adorning the surroundings with colors of yellow, pink and blue, with fireworks concluding the light spectacle with explosions of bright and vivid colors in shapes of stars, circus balls and animals. Children ran around the carnival, buying cotton candy, popcorn and sodas, as well as urging their parents to take them to see the gypsies performing amazing or near-impossible stunts, like contortionists or fire-eaters. The adults themselves didn't really enjoy themselves as much as their sons and daughters did; they considered themselves to be much more mature, and too old to be playing around silly fair games. The only reason they were there in the first place was to please their children, who had either gotten good grades in school and were being rewarded for all their effort, or were simply passing time with their families.

But the carnival, like everything, had dark secrets and a sinister side.

In a part of the carnival where only the music was heard, and the lights didn't give it's colorful display. That part was mainly filled with large, animal cages, but it was not occupied by lions or tigers, but by larger, much more sentient being.

Dragons.

But these dragons were not normal. These dragons, composed mainly of Deadly Nadders, Thunderdrums, a few Monstrous Nightmares, and some Hideous Zipplebacks, among others, were considered by mankind and the rest of the dragon race a like as phenomena. Some lacked a member of their body, others were so disfigured that it was hard to differ its species, others had legs replaced by thick wooden boards.

Dragon Freaks, they were called.

They were looking up to the sky, yearning for freedom, for kindness, but no one would give them that. Their 'owners' made sure of that. Every now and then, a group of teens and adults was taken to a tour through the cages, and flinched and made faces of disgust as soon as their eyes met the dragons' deformities, no matter how small it was. Some of them even threw stones at them in order to make them angry, but if any of the dragons attempted to defend themselves the gypsies would beat them into submission both as punishment and to remind them of 'their place'.

Escaping attempts were common, but they commonly failed, and the dragons responsible of the escape attempt were 'put down', or sold for their trouble. Eventually, the attempts diminished when the dragons started concluding they were destined to sit in their cages to be humiliated and scorned by humans. The youngest ones broke into tears every time rocks were thrown at them, and the oldest ones silently lamented to have come to the carnival in their youth in search for haven. If only they had known that place was worse than Hell itself they would have rather starved to death.

That particular night, when one of the gypsies was patrolling the cages to make sure the dragons were all inside, a low growl that would have given a Red Death shivers escaped the throat from one of the captives…

A middle-aged gypsy counted the gold coins upon his desk, accommodating them into piles, which already occupied most of the desk. He was a large, muscular man with a long black, puffy beard and greasy hair. He wore a thick dark brown leather coat over a white shirt, and had a belt-like long piece of cloth around his waist. His navy blue pants trailed along the floor slightly, so it was long-dirtied with mud, but its owner didn't seem to care. He was in a pretty good mood. He had earned lots of money from the visits of these brats, especially from the dragon abominations. His collection was known to be one of the largest, most impressive and most grotesque. Everytime he added a new 'freak' to his collection, he always made a large profit, exposing it as a 'New freak', usually gaining much more money. His current star attraction was an albino Night fury, still a hatchling, but when it grew up he would have loads and loads of gold raining upon him to no end, and he and his clan would live on the lap of luxury-

"Alvin!"

The gypsy whose name was Alvin was brought back from his daydreaming by a shout coming from one of his men. Tightening his fist and punching the desk 'gingerly'- which meant almost parting it in half, making some of the piles of coins plummet to the ground- Alvin got up from his seat and shot a death glare to the man who had just run into his tent.

"This better be good, Savage!" hissed Alvin. "You know I don't like being interrupted when counting my money!"

Savage gulped. He knew very well that the greedy, large gypsy in front of him disliked being interrupted, but this _was _important. "We had a… problem in the cages."

"That's all? You come and interrupt me just for another escape attempt?! You know what to do! Just kill the dragon who started it!"

"Well, that's the problem, sire." Savage gulped one more time. "He kind of… got away."

"WHAT?!" the roar Alvin gave made all the piles of gold in his desk to fall to the ground, but he didn't mind right then. "You fool! How did you let it get away!"

"That's not all. He…" This time, Savage covered his face with his arms in expectation of what would happen next. "Released all the others."

Five seconds didn't last before Savage was knocked to the ground by a powerful punch from the mighty gypsy. Alvin furiously ran towards the cages, wanting to see with his own eyes if what he had been told was true. When he got to the cage area of the place, a multitude of the clan's members were already there, watching in horror the atrocity that lay before their eyes. The head of the clan made his way through the clan, harshly pushing them out of his way, reminding them who was in charge.

What he saw no only made him even angrier than before, but _almost_ made him sick.

The cages, every last of them were, indeed, empty. His precious collection, the one which had taken him, years, no, _decades_ to obtain, was gone. But that was not that impacted him. In front of one of the cages, there were the signs that a fight had taken place. There were claw marks on the ground, and footsteps, but the most grotesque thing on the place was a giant pool of blood drying upon the ground and the, with shreds of bone, skin and flesh splattering the nearby cages, and the head of the former guard lay in the middle of the bloody display, a look of horror upon his face, as if the Devil itself had been the one responsible for this.

"Who were the bastards responsible for this?!" Alvin screamed, making everyone around him tremble and cower in fear. "ANSWER ME OR I WILL HAVE YOUR HEADS FOR YOUR INCOMPETENCE!"

"The Poisonous Whiptail!" replied an obese man with a traditional gypsy outfit.

Alvin nearly spat. "The… Poisonous Whiptail… Nighthawk?"

"Yes! I saw everything!" another, much more older gypsy said. "Hover had gone into the cage to punish him, but the bastard dragon attacked and shredded him to pieces! Then he shot the other cages open and released the rest of the dragons!"

"I understand there were other dragons sharing the cage with him, right?" Alvin hissed, calmly this time.

"Yes, sire! He shared the cage with a Monstrous Nightmare, a Skrill, a Changewing, a Terrible Terror and…" the old gypsy hesitated, but finally spoke. "… The Albino Night fury."

"Then what are you waiting for, you incompetent imbeciles! Fetch the bolas and nets, capture whatever escaped dragons you can, but do NOT let them get away or you'll feel my wrath!" Alvin screamed his orders, sending every gypsy present away to do their task.

He hated losing money, and to think a few minutes ago he was enjoying the thought of becoming rich with the White Fury.

* * *

The streets of Paris were always near-empty at night, when superstitious citizens returned to their homes in fear of encountering the 'gargoyles' when they flew out every night to look for their meal. There were still a few carriages taking passengers to their mansions, the rich Parisians returning home from a party, or members of the Parisian Police Force riding their dragons- Monstrous Nightmares, Snaptrappers or Whispering Deaths- in patrol, or returning to the station.

Four figures were soaring low through the city, one of the shades carrying a fifth, and another carrying an even smaller form in its claws. They avoided the police dragons, not wanting to cause an uproar which would sent the whole city after them with torches and rakes. They advanced through the shadows, avoided the moonlight and hid wherever a police officer would pass near of above them. The needed somewhere to hide, where they could escape from the cruelty of mankind. The other dragons would not accept them, that were for sure. After what felt an eternity of flying, the group descended into the darkness of an alley and landed to recover their breath. Little moonlight reached that alley, so they were safe from being discovered… for the time being.

When the moonlight finally found these shapes, the mere sight would have sent the Chief of the police force go home screaming like a baby.

A Poisonous Whiptail with violetish gray scales and white underbelly and jaw, along with moderate amaranth mane of spine-like hair and two long antennae, thick scales on the tip of his tail to serve as a defense mechanism and a pair of bull-like dark brown horns protunding from his head. His right front leg and left hind leg were replaced by thick wooden pecks, joined at his bone by iron rings, also meant to keep the pegs in place. Thick eyebrows of three long, hair-like scales were just above his toxic, emerald green eyes, with a dark tone of blackish purple underneath his visual orbs and a little white above his eyes and beneath his eyebrow.

A Monstrous Nightmare. His scales were moderate scarlet, his underbelly and jaw were a light, cakish yellow, and his back and the tip of his wings blended into a moderate crimson. Like the Poisonous Whiptail, one of his hind legs was missing. Unlike the Poisonous Whiptail, however, it seemed as if the peg was protunding directly from his bone, giving it a grotesque look. Covering his left eye was a long, greenish dark blue handkerchief to hide his missing eye, the gash left was not a pretty sight. A row of sharp teeth were visible from out of his mouth, pointing upwards from his lower jaw. His golden eye, his good eye at least, could pierce anyone into submission.

A Changewing. The most noticeable trait in him was that he lacked his left wing. _Completely_. But not by birth. It had been cut off, but he preferred not to remember it. In place of a wing there were signs that the wound had been sewn with needle and thread. One of his trademark long antennae, the left one as well. His eyes were a soft violet. Moderate amber scales made most of his hide, with light amberish gray underbelly and jaws, and dark amber rings running down his neck and body. His tail was colored orange, sewn into his rear.

A Terrible Terror, the smallest of the group, but rather big for a standard Terror. His scales were moderate chartreuse green, like a lemon, with a paler, light grayish shade on his underbelly and jaw. His back and spine were a moderate orange, and his short wings a dark wooden brown. His left eye was red, and his right eye was a watery blue, giving him a curious, and sometimes funny, look.

A Skrill. His scales were a moderate violet, a very pale violet underbelly and jaw, and horns as black as ebony, as black as coal; spines of the very same dark color were running down his back, His pale, light grayish Persian blue wings blended into moderate Persian blue and finally into dark Persian blue towards the tips. He had a great burn-like mark on the right side of his face, in the area around his eye and a little running up his head, and a little down into his lower lip. A few, sharp fangs stuck out of his moth downwards from his upper gums. His eyes were a brilliant tangelo.

The last member of the group was just a Night Fury hatchling, and the only female. She had pale white scales, contrasting with her brilliant amaranth eyes. She was the same size as the Terrible Terror, only slightly smaller.

All the dragons, minus the Night Fury, had deep scars across their backs and wings, a reminder of the time they spent under the Master's whip.

"Well, what now?" said the Monstrous Nightmare. "We escaped from that place, but where do we go?"

"We could go to the police." The Terrible Terror suggested, earning a snort in return.

"Oh, yeah? They'll put us in cages and send us to jail!"

"Why! We have done nothing wrong!"

"Look at us!" the Monstrous Nightmare hissed, stretching his wings, inviting the small dragon to look at his body. "What do you think they will do when monsters like us go into their police station and talk to them asking for sanctuary?!"

The Changewing with one wing joined the topic. "They'll put us in cages, do their nasty medical examinations, take us to a zoo and expose us in circuses so that everyone may laugh and look at us."

The Monstrous Nightmare shot him a glare with his only eye. "Thanks, Sherlock, pride of the federation!"

"He's actually right." Said the Skrill calmly. "Humans are not yet ready to accept the idea that a being distinct from them can understand them or even make itself understood."

"And even if we actually decided to speak to humans, who the heck would we talk to?" The Changewing added. "We don't precisely know the citizens of this place or if they can be trusted!"

The Skrill sighed to look at the Poisonous Whiptail. "What do you think, Nighthawk?"

Darkly, Nighthawk turned to look at them with a cold, serious expression. "Hey, I got us out of there." His voice was a chill as winter, his tone sharp and brittle as frosted glass. "You cannot always expect me to find a solution for everything." He gazed at the Skrill. "Any ideas, Voltaire?"

Voltaire shook his head. "Not really, Nighthawk. All I suggest is flying away as much as we can and pray Alvin doesn't find us again."

The Monstrous Nightmare snapped. "That's your solution for everything!"

The Skrill angrily turned to him. "Well, at least I'm suggesting something, One-Eye. Or do you have any better ideas?"

"Find someplace to hide and stay there! That's what we should do!"

"And you call _me_ a chicken?" The Terrible Terror snickered. "Hiding from your problems doesn't solve everything, you know."

"ENOUGH!" Nighthawk roared, not loud enough to be heard by the patrols, but loud enough to send the group into silence.

The Night Fury hatchling started wailing, startled by the Poisonous Whiptail's outburst. Voltaire gently covered her with his wing and spoke softly, soothingly at her. "There, there, it's alright…" he said. "Don't worry, I'm here."

"Why did you have to tag that brat along with us?" One-Eye hissed. "She'll get us caught!"

"Well, if Nighthawk hadn't yelled in the first place, he wouldn't have startled her."

Nighthawk ignored Voltaire and addressed at the Changewing. "Silk, what about you?"

"Going to the authorities or asking humans for help is out of the question. But I agree with One-Eye, we should hide for now."

One-Eye gave the Terrible Terror a victorious grin. "Ha."

"But where?" the Terrible Terror snapped. "It's not like there are many places to hide in this damn city!"

"Shack, would you mind lowering your tone?" Voltaire hissed softly., having accomplished his task of calming the Night fury down. "You'll startle Snowdrop."

"We could go to Notre Dame." One-Eye said. "The bell tower is very spacious and we could live there."

"We won't be safe there! Do you think the bells ring by them? The bell ringer or the friars go up there to ring the bells in the morning and evening!"

"Speaking of the hunchback of Notre dame…" Silk chuckled, but received a smack in his leg. "OUCH!" He glared at Poisonous Whiptail. "What was that for, Nighthawk?!"

"This is no time for jokes!" Nighthawk replied, baring his teeth. "If they find us, they'll kill us!"

"Kill us?" One-Eye repeated incredulously. "Alvin won't be that merciful."

"Now that I recall…" Voltaire narrowed his eyes, trying to remember what he had heard. "I once heard the humans that passed through our cages say that the… Paris Opera House, I think, was built above a subterranean lake and had secret passages and catacombs."

"Catacombs?" Shack hissed. "Dragons living underground? Have you lost your mind? In a few years we will have lost our wings!"

"For your information, it takes centuries of breeding , conditions and adapting for a creature to lose certain traits." Silk added up, making the Terrible Terror roll his eyes. Unlike the others, Silk could actually read human words; how he learned to do so, they did not know, the Changewing had never wanted to touch that topic. Sometimes, one of the gypsies, a young girl, would secretly take him books upon realizing that he could read. No matter what kind of book it was, Silk just loved to read, and he absorbed whatever information was on that book. "The least we could get is dull scales."

"Well, Mr. know-it-all, why don't you give us a whole lecture about adaptation?"

"That's enough, all of you!" Nighthawk snarled once more, making Snowdrop whimper and hide behind her 'father's' wing. Letting out a sigh of frustration in order to calm his nerves, Nighthawk set his eyes on the disfigured Skrill. "You say there are catacombs? And an underground lake?"

Voltaire nodded. "That's what they said, but I believe it was nothing more than a rumor. I think humans do not visit those tunnels because they are unexplored and dangerous. But I suppose there must be a way in, we just need to find it."

"We would have water and someplace to live away from Alvin and his carnival. " Silk pointed out. "Besides, if we manage to explore all of those secret passages, we might snatch up a little food. And sincerely, I've always wanted to see an opera with my own eyes."

"You actually want to hear that melodic screaming and yelling?" One-eye sighed in dismay. "I thought you were nuts, now I'm pretty sure you've lost your mind from all that reading."

"Well, it's someplace to start." Nighthawk said, calmly. "We should find our way there and see if these tunnels actually exist."

"Since we're on it, why don't we ask some Whispering Deaths to lend us some lanterns?" Shack rolled his eyes, commenting sarcastically, but a strong stepping on his tail on the Monstrous Nightmare's told him to remain silent.

Nighthawk gave One-Eye a thankful look before turning to Voltaire once more. "Do you know which way to go?"

* * *

There it stood, the beautiful and majestic opera house, a treasure in its own right, just as Voltaire had heard the humans say. They gazed at the architectural masterpiece, their breath escaping their throats as grotesque stone humans and dragons alike stared back at them. Silk was lost in its wonder, but also felt a strange shiver run down his spine. Was it possible for buildings to have eyes? He knew it was a foolish notion, but still… it seemed almost as if it were staring back at him, searching his very soul.

"Where do we get in?" Shack inquired as he stared at the grand doors leading into the Grand Hall, closed shut. "I suppose knocking the door is not an option."

"We could get in by the stables." Voltaire proposed. "It's big enough to hold various horses _and_ a few dragons at the same time. At least we'd have somewhere to spend the night while we figure out about the secret tunnels."

"Except that when the stable humans go in there and find deformed dragons sleeping in there they'll call the police." One-Eye grumbled. "Besides, I don't want to be hearing that screaming daily!"

"For the tenth time, it's not screaming on its own right!" Silk hissed, angry with the Monstrous Nightmare for being such an uncultured dragon. "It's just that most opera singers must use a high pitch in some productions because the opera itself demands it!"

"Do you want me to smack you again?" Nighthawk hissed lowly. "I agree with Voltaire, at least we should get to the stable and then we'll decide what to do there."

Despite One-Eye and Shack's protest, the group silently hovered their way to the great but humble wooden doors that led into the stables., Voltaire carrying Snowdrop gingerly in his right talon. As they landed, Nighthawk softly and slowly pushed the doors open, trying to make the least sound possible. The least thing they needed was the animals inside to notice their presence.

When the doors opened, the dragons walked inside. Voltaire gently nudged Snowdrop forward, motioning her to walk inside, that he would be still behind her like a mother cat did to tell her kittens it was safe to go to a certain place. As soon as they were all inside, One-Eye silently closed the door behind with his tail. The horses inside were asleep, so they didn't mind the newly arrived visitors. There were not dragons there, not yet at least.

"Aw, straw!" Shack almost immediately rushed to the nearest pile of straw and lied on top of it. "And it's clean! And comfy!"

Nighthawk simply shook his head as he turned to the others. "Well, we should spend the night here, or at least find one of those trapdoors as you call it. If a human finds us here, we're dead."

"Don't look at me, I said it was a bad idea!" One-Eye growled.

A sound behind them made the group freeze. Silk spotted an unwanted witness a few steps from them. A Deadly Nadder, judging by her size she seemed to be in the first years of her life, she barely reached Nighthawk's shoulders. Her scales where a bright blue toned down by a little gray, with sprinkles of hazel and purple at her wings. Her horns were still short, and blunt at the edges. Yellow eyes stared curiously at the group.

"Uh… hi?"


	2. Four Years Later

A Place to Call Home

Chapter 2- Four Years Later

**I've decided that there will be a few more fantastical elements, and will not only restrict to dragons. After reading much books about goblins, and watching a few films about those creatures, I thought of adding two particular characters I remember seeing in a movie as a child. "The princess and goblins', I think… there were two goblins which always made me laugh despite only appearing in two scenes at all.**

**Now, on with the chapter.**

* * *

**Paris, France, 1889**

**Paris Opera House**

* * *

The Grand Paris Opera Populaire was buzzing with movement.

The stagehands backstage were preparing for the next performance that would take place in a few hours, so they had little time to waste. Sceneries were repainted; worn-out costumes had their holes fixed with needle and thread, the seamstresses and dressmakers fixing whatever they could in such a short time. Props were being set in their respective places, and the ones that would be used in later scenes were prepared. The orchestra was rehearsing the music of the newest production, Carmen.

Most of the stagehands were people of middle-class, but there were a few people who had no other choice but to work behind the stage to put the bread in the table.

Some operas required the presence of animals or dragons; some horses were used to lift up the scenery carpet with a mechanism, sheep, goats and other horses were used as background in order to cope with the opera's style, and dragons were employed when there were bonfire or fire scenes. They were kept in stables, but the animals were kept in the left side of the stable, while the dragons were kept on the right in order to prevent a 'predatory' incident, as dubbed by the stagehands when one of the dragons, a red, male Monstrous Nightmare whose name was Hookfang attempted to eat one of the sheep.

The stable boy in charge of the dragons, a young lad named Hiccup, juts needed a sever 'no!' in order to send Hookfang, probably the most stubborn dragon in the opera house, into submission. A few of the stagehands scoffed at the idea that he could dominate a Monstrous Nightmare. Hiccup was not the strongest or the fastest, after all. He had no muscles, and was considered rather thin for the job. He had simple, dark brown short hair with a few hair fringes covering his forehead, and emerald green eyes. Hiccup often wore a simple brown shirt with long wool pants colored mahogany, along with leather sandals. Accompanying Hiccup almost everywhere he went was a great Night Fury, black as the night, with toxic green eyes matching and contrasting Hiccup's soft emerald. The Night fury was not as large as a Monstrous Nightmare, but medium-sized, yet this didn't stop him from radiating an aura of confidence and dominance characteristic of his species. Toothless was his name, matching his retractable teeth, which made the dragon look 'toothless' at times.

The most superstitious workers often called Hiccup the 'Dragon Whisperer'. It was rumored he could speak to dragons and understand their language. That was how he tamed the Night Fury, they thought. The did not know their friendship started from years ago, when Hiccup was just five, and Toothless just a hatchling.

The dragons respected Hiccup's authority, and he didn't need to tell them to do things twice, or to behave more than once. For Hiccup, positive reinforcement was enough to make a good dragon, while bad reinforcement only spoiled them. A few sweet-talking and a treat was enough, he believed. And surprisingly for others, it always worked.

Hiccup poured yet another bucket of warm water into Toothless's water plate, it took about three or four pails of water to fill out a dragon plate. And he knew they preferred it warm. After Toothless started drinking, Hiccup moved on with the rest of the dragons, filling their water plates and giving them their rations of fish and meat. However, it was not as easy, since there were various species and every dragon had its different likes and dislikes. Hookfang, for example, loved scented flowers mixed with some salmon. Meatlug the Gronckle preferred dragon nip and stones, while Barf and Belch, a Hideous Zippleback, had different tastes. Barf liked squid while Belch always ate octopus. Toothless was not as picky as the others, he was comfortable just with a few fish and one or two steaks of meat. Stormfly, on the other hand…

"Hey, Hiccup!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes at his cousin's annoyed voice. "What now, Snotlout?"

Snotlout could be considered Hiccup's polar opposite. He was broad-chested and had thick, strong arms and legs. He wore the same outfit as Hiccup, but he was not very comfortable using it at all. Unlike his cousin, he thought dragons needed to be 'taught who is in charge', which earned him many 'enemies' in the stable dragons. Unlike with Hiccup, they had not a single pinch of respect towards Snotlout, and they were openly antagonistic against him, often making him trip by getting their tails in the way when he was carrying buckets of fish or scaring the heck out of him by roaring when he was doing something wrong. Snotlout in turn had no affection for the dragons, openly referring to them as mindless beasts, which further strengthened the dislike they had towards him.

"Why do I have to clean out the straw?!" Snotlout complained, pointing at the pail and shovel with a great amount of disgust. "Why don't I feed the dragons and you clean out?!"

"The last time I let you fed the dragons you lost your hair." Hiccup replied sharply. "Do you want to wear a wool cap for three months again?"

"Hey, speaking of which, where's the Deadly Nadder? I haven't seen her for hours!"

"You know Stormfly, Snotlout." Hiccup simply said as he fed Hookfang. "She goes and comes and she likes, not even I can stop her."

"You could if you showed her you're the one in charge here!" Snotlout snapped as he walked into Meatlug's stable and started picking up her excrement and dirty straw with the shovel before pouring its content into the bucket.

"I'd be betraying her trust! You can't force a dragon to do something; you have to talk him into it. Besides, she always returns in time."

"I know, I know!" Snotlout replied waving a hand in dismissal. "I'd just like to know where the heck she goes when she disappears! I mean, it's not like we always see her walk trough _that_ door!" He pointed towards the open stable door from where gentlemen and middle-class people were speaking or minding their own business. "It's like she goes through a secret route or something!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Snotlout!" Hiccup snapped, now heading to Barf and Belch. "How could Stormfly possibly fit into the Opera House?"

* * *

Hiccup knew nothing.

The day had been long for Stormfly, the Deadly Nadder with scales as blue as the morning sky with tints of purple in her wings, and or orange and yellow in her back and the tips of her wings. No one dared to cross paths with her, not even Snotlout was foolish enough to annoy her. Everyone believed that Stormfly's gingery behavior came from an old owner who used to mistreat and abuse her. Hiccup was the only person who could get close to her unharmed, and the only human she could trust. If anyone else tried to touch her she would snap and hiss, often throwing a spike or two at them as a warning. If only they knew the whole truth, she thought to herself. Yes, it had been a long day indeed; after a vigorous rehearsal she and Meatlug had been taken into stage for the fire effects. She did not snap in stage; Hiccup had told them all not to bite or snap or scratch in that 'sacred' place, as he put it. But this did not men she would let other people close to her. Satisfied when her part was over, she thought it was a good time as any to tell them of the day's events. And to take them a little food now that she was on it.

There were many secret passages that led to their lair, surprisingly large enough to let a dragon in; she knew about half of them. She also knew where to avoid the traps they set for intruders. Carrying a great basket of fish in her back, she walked with dignity through the tunnels where there was light burning in the distance.

Particularly Hookfang had questioned her numerous times where she went wherever she was missing. Her answer was always a sharp 'it's none of your business' before retiring to her box. It was not that she did not like him; in fact, they knew each other since they were hatchlings and were very good friends., but sometimes he just tended to peek his snout into other dragons' business. She knew he just worried about her, because he loved her. Stormfly was no fool, she had seen the signs, but the Monstrous Nightmare was too shy to tell her of his feelings. He almost reminded her of One-Eye.

As she grew closer, there were movements off to the side. Any other dragon would have run screaming, but she continued on, nodding her head to the small figure that watched from the shadows. Shack caught the scent of fish coming from Stormfly, and he knew that very moment that she had brought them breakfast.

"Hey, honey!" Shack started to walk by her side, accompanying her the rest of the way. "Is that for us?"

Stormfly rolled her eyes at being called 'honey'. Shack and his sense of humor. "No, it's for the worms. What do you think?"

"Okay, okay, you don't have to be on the defensive, woman!"

"Just tell me where everyone is."

"They're in the main hall, losing their time while I waited for you here, honey."

"And the goblins living here with you? What about them?"

"They're overexcited with the tunnel systems under the Opera House, and they have decided to make a few 'expansions'."

Stormfly sighed as they turned around a corner. "Remind me why you let those… things live here?"

"Ask Nighthawk. But you have to admit, they're not that bad. Who would have thought those heads of theirs were so hard? They use them as pick axes!"

"Can we change the topic? I don't feel comfortable speaking about those two right now."

Finally, they came upon a clearing in the cavern, where hundreds of caverns lit the room, illuminating the space in an orange flow. Figures were scattered around the room, minding their own business for the time being. Silk was lying on top of a great red velvet cushion 'borrowed' from the props, reading books about opera and music composing. One-eye was sharpening his claws on the stones, not minding the clawing noise that was annoying Voltaire. The Skrill was in the middle of reading the little Snowdrop yet another book, this one called 'Beauty and The Beast. In one of the corners rested a certain Poisonous Whiptail, whose antennae twitched at the sound of the Deadly Nadder's pawsteps.

"I do not recall inviting you, Stormfly." He spoke in a cold dark voice

"I was not aware I needed an invitation, Night." She replied just as coldly.

"Leave her alone, Nighthawk!" One-Eye hissed, forgetting about his claws and crawling towards Stormfly. "At least she brings us to eat!"

"It would never matter;" Voltaire commented, gazing at the Deadly Nadder for a brief moment. "She comes as she pleases, she is like you, Nighthawk."

Stormfly felt the corners of her mouth twitch at that. "We are more alike than you can imagine."

"Hey, speaking of which, Stormfly." Silk interrupted. "What opera is being produced right now? Carmen or Norma?"

"I believe it was the one about a gypsy female and two human males fighting over her."

One-Eye let out an exasperation sigh as Silk gave him a victorious smirk. "HA! Now you owe me five fish heads!"

The Monstrous Nightmare glanced at him with irritation. "When did it turn into a bet?"

"Aunt Stormy!"

Snowdrop quickly ran over to the Deadly Nadder and hugged her leg tightly. Curious red eyed stared up at her. "Did you bring food? I'm hungry!"

A small grin appeared on Stormfly's face upon being called 'Stormy'. Snowdrop, being just the equivalent of a four year old human, was still learning to speak properly, and she had the habit to call nicknames to everyone she met. Stormfly took the basket of fish from her back and placed it on the ground, letting its contents slip out and fall on the stony ground. Brown trouts, and perches.

"Please tell me you didn't bring salmon!" One-Eye whined. "I don't want to taste Voltaire's fish broth again!"

"I suppose you would rather eat Muk's fish tarts, then." Voltaire hissed, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, no, not again!" Shack cried out. "Not his fish tarts! I like that goblin, but he is not precisely the greatest cook in the world!"

As the dragons dashed forward to have their fill of fish (Voltaire included, despite his annoyance at One-eye's comment), Nighthawk stole Stormfly's attention. "What brings you here besides breakfast?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm and seriousness.

"News flash." Stormfly was not one to beat around the bush so she spoke quite plainly. "New violinists have been hired, so you should be prepared for a lot of noise these days."

"What?" One-Eye whipped his head around, a piece of perch hanging from his mouth. "Now not only do we have to hear the melodic screams but now I'll have to deal with newbie violinists? Can it get worse than that?!"

"It can, actually. Lord Dagur Dérangé will be assisting tonight at the performance of Carmen."

One-Eye groaned. "I had to ask."

Stormfly knew these dragons did not like it when anyone focused on their missing body parts or deformations, even though some were more open about it than others. "Mademoiselle Astrid will be performing the lead part, so that should lighten up your mood, at least."

"Astrid? The blonde girl?" Silk inquired after swallowing up three brown trouts. "That human has the voice of a siren, I tell you."

"You five!" Nighthawk cried out at the group of dragons devouring the fish. "You better leave something for Muk and Glump! I don't like how they complain when One-Eye doesn't leave them a head of fish!"

"Don't worry, I'll make sure One-Eye doesn't overeat again." Shack hissed out, chuckling. "We'll even leave you some brown strouts, I know those are your favorites!"

Nighthawk rolled his eyes, but a grin twisted his features. His wooden two legs creaked silently as he stood up and limped towards the group, sniffing the salty scent of the trouts.

"Hey, Stormfly!" One-Eye said, lifting up his head from the fish. "Do you think that old, foolish manager-"

"Mildew?"

"Yes, Mildew. Do you think he'll ever replace that harpy they have warbling day after day? If he ever does, I'll paint myself in pink and dance around the streets! Otherwise, I'll become madder than I already am!"

Voltaire whispered in a low tone. "At least he and Muk have something in common after all."

"You're not mad, One-Eye." Silk commented. "You just don't have a good taste for culture."

Truthfully, if he could, One-Eye would kill Heather, the black-haired Prima Donna, and he would have no regrets whatsoever, plus Muk would worship the ground he walked on if he did. The goblin did not kill the girl, but that didn't mean he wouldn't 'prank' her every now and then. It was Stormfly's pleas that kept them both from doing so. It was also the fact that Heather, being a supposed 'star' would no doubt cause a riot of some kind, and their hideout could be discovered. But one day, if things went too far, he would throw caution to the wind and do what he had been longing to do ever since she first stepped into the Opera House and opened her mouth.

"I still can't believe that Mildew guy actually thinks Heather has a much better voice than Astrid does." Voltaire commented. "I think all these years of hearing all her singing has made him deaf."

"Speaking of which." Stormfly grinned. "Did you hear about what happened?"

"You mean about Heather accusing one of the stagehands trying to murder her?" Silk chuckled, stepping away from the long-empty basket.

The other dragons' heads perked up at the words.

"What's murder?" Snowdrop inquired innocently, almost making Voltaire flinch.

"Err…." Voltaire struggled to think of a excuse to take the young Night Fury away. "Come on, Snowdrop. I think I have yet to finish telling you that story, right?"

"Yay!"

As the Skrill led Snowdrop away, Stormfly continued with her gossiping. "Heather was rehearsing and the large boy named Fishlegs was watching from behind the curtains. Apparently, he was so distracted and stepped into a piece of scenery which nearly crushed Mildew's beloved star."

Shack, One-Eye and Silk laughed, but Nighthawk simply found himself grinning. "A pity the scenery did not succeed!" Shack had tears of hysteria running down his scaly cheeks. "Heather accused Fishlegs?"

"Yes," Stormfly replied. "But you have to admit, he shouldn't have been watching the rehearsal in the first place."

"Unfortunately, Heather's voice does not match her body." Silk said. "She may have the voice of a vulture, but she has the looks and body of a swan. Forgive my tongue, but not even Astrid can hold out a candle to Heather in terms of beauty. If we want Astrid to replace that harpy we'll need to make another prop fall, this time into her empty head."

"Silk!"

"Come on, Stormfly! When are you going to get a sense of humor?"

She eyed One-Eye warily. "Perhaps when your jokes are actually funny."

Nighthawk couldn't help but grin a little at that. "Touché, Stormfly. Touché."

She sighed and turned as if to go, but paused momentarily. "You won't actually do it, will you?"

"If you're referring to Mademoiselle Heather, no. We will not harm her." Nighthawk gave One-Eye a warning glare. "One-Eye won't put a claw on her, and I'll tell Muk to stop 'pranking' her."

Satisfied by this answer, Stormfly turned to leave. Like their greeting, there were no formalities when they parted. She climbed the steps and took the passaged that led her out of the dragons' purgatory to the world. All the while, the rest of their laughter at Heather's misery followed her every step.

* * *

The sound of tiny rocks falling and creaking echoed through the rest of the catacombs beneath the Opera House, a great set of tunnels running from the main hall where the dragons were located. The underground lake beneath the Opera Populaire was not that big, but it actually fed into the Seine River, making the inhabitants of the catacombs wonder how come the humans had not noticed.

While most people thought Goblins only inhabited in the hearts of the mountains in Scotland or England, two Goblins were sharing the underground haven with the dragons, having arrived shortly before the dragons walked into the catacombs in the first place. Their story was a mystery, but from what Stormfly could tell, they had a background similar to that of Nighthawk and the others, being victims of man's cruelty. Currently they spent their time digging more tunnels in order to make their home much more spacious. One-Eye and Shack thought they were making too much a deal out of it, but Nighthawk and Voltaire knew it reminded them of their home back at the mountains. But much to the dragons' surprise, the Goblins insisted on using their heads to dig their way through the earth and rocks, which made Shack think one of those days they would break their skulls open. But according to Silk's 'monologue', as the others called it, Goblin skulls were impenetrable from all those centuries living underground among their rocks; even if a 10 ton anvil fell on their heads they would remain unharmed. However, the catch was that their one-toed feet became incredibly sensible, one only needed to _stamp _on a Goblin's feet to cause them an excruciating pain comparable to that of having the anvil falling on it.

One of the Goblins was short and scrawny with light-brown skin, greasy black hair tied up pointing upwards, with two long bangs falling on both sides of his long, grumpy-goat like face along with a black greasy goatee matching his hair. He had whipping scars on his back, but they were much severe-looking than the dragons'; apparently, his former master was not as 'pitiful' as Alvin had been with the dragons (figuratively, of course).

The other Goblin was much larger and brawnier with dark orange skin and light brown hair. He had a thicker, dog-like face and great stomach blubber, showing he was not as picky with food as his friend.

The two Goblins had large pointy, bat-like ears, which were sensible to high-pitched sounds such as singing. This had made the scrawny Goblin develop a great dislike for the Prima Donna, Heather, for her constant 'high-pitched voice of devil's tears', as he always put it. It was a torture for the two every performance, for sometimes the music reached the lair, and they could do nothing but take two cushions in order to cover their ears.

"Say, Muk." The larger Goblin said as he knocked more rocks into the ground with his stone-hard skull. "Do you think we'll ever get out of here?"

The scrawnier Goblin named Muk didn't turn his head around as he spoke in a scratchy voice. "What do you mean, Glump?"

"I mean, stop living underground. I've always wanted to live under the sun, not just surrounded by darkness."

"You seem to forget that we were born in the darkness. We are Goblins, remember?"

"That's just the point, Muk. I don't even recall my own mother's face, or where we grew up. Do you?"

"Now that you mention it…" Muk looked down, his ears drooping to the sides of his head. "All I remember from my childhood is…" He shivered. "… _That_ place."

"Have you ever thought of finding a mate?"

Muk stiffened.

"Why would I? Where the heck would I get one? I doubt there were other Goblins around here."

"Then why do you like Mademoiselle Astrid so much?"

"WHAT?!" Muk's voiced echoed through the range of tunnels, his yellow eyes open like plates. "Where the heck did you get that idea?!"

Glump did not fail to see the blushing on Muk's cheeks, however. "Look how you become everytime I mention her."

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"Then why everytime she perform you ask Silk if you can accompany him to see the Opera? You _detest_ the Operas. The only reason you go is because you want to see _her_."

"Even if what you said is true, what could I possibly do? It's not like I could simply go into her dressing room and say: 'Hello, Mademoiselle Astrid, would you like to go on a date with me?' Look at me! Look at us, for goodness sake!"

Muk gestured at his friend's body and his own, "She will probably run away or call the police! And we may endanger the others!"

"I like her too…" Glump shrugged, changing the topic. "She seems different… nice… like the Gypsy."

Muk paused and looked at his friend. "Gypsy?"

Glump nodded his large head. "Yes. From the stories Voltaire tells us… like the one with the hunchback in Notre Dame."

Muk rolled his eyes and groaned. "It's just a story, simple as that."

Glump fixed his feet nervously, his voice barely above a whisper. "But Voltaire says-"

"THERE IS NO SUCH PERSON!" Muk shouted, hi voice echoing throughout the cavern and passageways, his hand punching one of the nearby rocks, breaking it into tiny pieces. Despite looking scrawny, Muk had a great hidden strength within those thin arms of his. Glump gave a cry of fear and quickly backed away, molding his large frame to the stone wall, as if hoping the shadow would keep him safe. Muk sighed and took several long breaths before lifting his head and speaking again, his tone icy, but calm. "There is no gypsy, Glump, there is no person on Earth like that…" he sighed one last time before finally lifting his eyes to where his friend stood shaking. "Beautiful women, dragons or whoever you want to think do not fall in love with monsters like us, that's the reality of it, and it's better to learn this now, before… before you do something foolish and risk hurting yourself. In fact, I don't think Voltaire should even change the ending of that story just because he doesn't want to make Snowdrop cry."

Suddenly, Glump started to sniff the air, catching the scent of something. "Hey, Muk, do you want to know what will make you feel better? I think Stormy just brought breakfast."

Despite keeping his serious expression, Muk could feel his stomach growling. "I hope she brought perch."

* * *

The elegant carriage, pulled by four majestic black horses, pulled up in front of the Opera House causing several people on the street to stop and whisper amongst themselves. The driver quickly jumped down from his seat to open the door for the carriage's occupant. Several women who were walking stopped and stared at the figure that arose from the carriage; those who were holding fans immediately began to rapidly fan themselves.

He was a tall young man, slim but muscular as was the fashion at the time. He was elegantly dressed in a gray suit with a high collar, his black shoes polished and glistening, his white tie tucked into his slightly ruffles tunic. A top hat made f black satin crowned his reddish brown hair which feathered just slightly off his neck; he tipped it to the ladies who were admiring his emergence. He stepped down from the carriage steps, muttering words to his coachman while he dusted himself off. He lifted his eyes to the Opera House and smiled; his face was clean shaven, his posture straight, his teeth white, his eyes a sparkling brown. And when he began to walk up those steps, here seemed to be this air of power that followed him with every step. He was like the sun, dazzling like first sight, and forever burning an image within you mind's eye after he had disappeared from view.


	3. Unrequited Love

A Place To Call Home

Chapter 3

**Okay, everyone, to answer a few questions: **

**Guest #1: No, I'm not shipping Astrid with a goblin, I'm not that mean XD. And her relationship with Hiccup is rather neutral at first, her only focus being her career. It's Snotlout she can't stand. Heather is some kind of 'lover' to Dagur, but he doesn't love her at all and is only after her fortune. He has his eye on Astrid, but purely out of lust, while Hiccup will genuinely fall in love with Astrid (this will in turn cause Muk to take it against him).**

**Guest #2: Thank you for the idea. Hiccup does actually want to be part of the Opera house, but he thinks he is not 'what they are looking for', despite having a good voice. Toothless and the other dragons will want to help him. However, Astrid will not be so friendly on her first encounter with Muk and Glump. She will faint, actually. She will eventually give Muk a kiss in the cheek, but until later chapters when she gets to know him better. Hiccup will be the victim of Muk's hostility as well, due to the goblin thinking he gets in the way between Astrid and him. They'll eventually warm up to each other, though. Hiccup will get quite jealous of the Goblin sometimes, though, but Toothless always knocks sense into him (literally XD).**

**Guest #3: Toothless, Hookfang and Meatlug will try to get Astrid and hiccup together during the first chapters, but Stormfly and Barf and Belch will object. Snowdrop will meet Toothless in about chapter 8.**

**Now, on with the chapter.**

* * *

Inside the Opera House, things were well underway for the opera that would be kicking off the season in a matter of days. Dancers were frantically perfecting their steps, while stage hands worked on sets and the orchestra turned their instruments. One of the new violinists, a lad named Tuffnut, was turning out to be the toast of the orchestra. In a matter of hours he was close to perfecting the score for the upcoming opera; the manager was well pleased with his decision.

Sadly, his twin sister Ruffnut was not having the same good fortune… in a way. When Heather first discovered Ruffnut was to be her dressmaker, she had a fit that could rival the most spoiled of girls. She screamed, stamped her feet, swore in Italian, and then stomped off to lock herself away in her dressing room for a good hour, while Mildew stood outside her door and pleaded for her to come out.

The Diva's understudy, Astrid, rolled her eyes to the whole incident, thinking that despite Senora Heather's elegant dresses and years of stage experience, a dragon could both sing and act better. While Mildew pleaded, Astrid started to talk with Ruffnut as the latter busied herself with her tasks, mending customs that had snares, and ironing ones with wrinkles. She delicately laid them out, examining them closely to see if she had missed any repair work, all the while feeling as if someone… or something, were watching them. Astrid was quite impressed with her work, but when she felt the familiar peering eyes she let out a sigh of exasperation.

Astrid had a thin figure, which made her look beautiful in the yes of many young men. She had blonde hair with long bangs that covered the left side of her forehead, with a braided ponytail in back. That day she was wearing a beautiful light pink dress, with magenta trimming on the sleeves and trimmed birds on the skirt.

Any other thoughts on the matter were quickly disposed of as Heather returned, dabbing her nose and eyes with the handkerchief Mildew had given her. Mildew, and a the tenor of the Opera house, a lad with blonde hair named Francois, followed, each filling the air with praises to her. The whole thing made both Ruffnut and Astrid sick.

Heather was a young teen with long raven black hair, but she held it up in a bun, making her face look older than she actually was. Her face was over-made up, with a great quantity of blusher, lots of red lipstick and mascara on her eyelashes. Her dress was a deep green, with reaching the floor, with a corset tightly tied up from behind her back as if she was trying to look even thinner than she actually was.

Heather waved her hand, which temporally stopped the two men from making further idiots of themselves, and turned to Ruffnut. "I have decided I will allow you to continue being mu dressmaker," she sweetly purred, a fake smile creasing the corners of her lips.

Astrid rolled her eyes, knowing what she was expecting.

Ruffnut simply stared at her in confusion.

Heather's sweet smile was beginning to fade. She shifted side to side and was tapping her foot, as if waiting for Ruffnut to fall to her knees and thank god above for granting her this fine honor. Was she that conceited?

"Well?"

Ruffnut jumped at the sudden bark that escaped the prima donna's lips. Heather quickly smoothed back a silky pink curl that had escaped from her shout. She smiled again at Ruffnut and said in that sweet voice she had used earlier, "Have you nothing to say, my dear?"

Astrid wanted to tell the girl what she really thought. She wanted to tell Heather that she had no talent, that while she strutted across the stage like a peacock, she sounded like a crow. She wanted to tell her that her behavior was disgusting and that there were more important things going on in the world than how one's hair looks or what fabric one's dress is made from. She wanted to scream, and perhaps even strike the so-called 'lady'.

"Uhh…" Ruffnut thought for a moment. "Thanks?"

Heather stared at the teen. Ruffnut had a look of confusion on her face, but inside she was laughing at the blank expression she was receiving from the so-called great star. Not the answer La Heather was expecting, let alone looking for, but it was not one she could scream at either.

"Well!" Mildew, an elderly man with gray hair, a long moustache and a suit, interrupted. "I must say, keep up the good work, mademoiselle, you'll do fine in the opera business, I'm sure!"

A gruff male cough interrupted the conversation. "Um… bed your pardon, but is this a bad time?"

The manager and Heather turned their heads and all exclaimed at once, "MONSIEUR!"

Astrid, who was still incensed at Heather's outburst, stared at the frequent visitor with whom the others appeared to be enamoured; even Ruffnut seemed to be stricken by his looks. He was very handsome; tall, with auburn hair, and obviously wealthy judging by the clothes he wore. He looked right past the admiring manager.

"Good day," he said with an elegant bow of his head. "Astrid felt the obligation of etiquette of her high social position and gave him a small curtsey. "Mademoiselle Astrid, you're as radiant as always." He kissed her hand.

"Monsieur, I am so pleased you came to see us today. As you can see, we are well underway in preparing for the opening gala-"

"Yes, yes, it is all looking wonderful, Mildew," the young man said with a wave of his hand, his smile still remaining on Astrid. "I would never miss one of Mademoiselle Astrid's performances."

Heather's entire demeanor changed in those five seconds. "My dear monsieur, had I been expecting your surprise visit I would have dressed more elegantly for you." The young man smiled warmly at Heather as she batted her eyes, causing Francois to fidget with jealously.

Astrid rolled her eyes. Heather and this gentleman knew each other rather well.

"Monsieur, we have some matters of business to discuss with you. There have been some noises-"

"All in good time, Mildew." The gentleman answered without taking his eyes off Heather. "I first have some matters of business to go over with Senora Heather. She has written me of her displeasure with the way things are run here…" he glanced at the manager, the handsome smile disappearing and being replaced with a serious frown.

"D-d-d-displeasure?" the old man stuttered, looking at Heather in horror-

"Yes," Heather snapped, linking her arm with that of the handsome young man. "Much displeasure and hiring that commoner is now on the top of my list!" Ruffnut lifted up her arms defensively as Heather began to lead the young man away from the manager who was to flabbergasted to utter a single word. "Come monsieur," she said with a twirl of her skirts. "Let us go to my dressing room to talk things over."

The gentleman turned his head back to Astrid and gave her one last charming smile before he was literally dragged away by the boorish opera star. Ruffnut remained frozen for a while, before turning up to look at Astrid. "What was that all about? Could you tell me who the heck that was?"

By then, the dance girls had gathered around them, and were letting out squeals and excited shrieks. "That's Count Dagur Derangé! The highest patron of the Paris Opera House!" One of them said in excitement.

"Girls!" the dancers stopped their giggling and quickly scampered back to where they should have been practicing. Madame Gothi, the dance mistress, emerged from the curtains and looked crossly at all of them. She was a ridiculously short old woman, with long gray hair made into two long braids, and she wore a stern black dress. "What is the meaning of this, Antoinette?"

The lead dancer named Antoinette, a young redhead with a delicate figure and pale skin, fidgeted and bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Grandmother." Madame Gothi lifted a gray eyebrow, awaiting her grandchild's answer. "It was just… well… we saw Count Dagur, and-"

Madame Gothi's face paled at the name. "The Count is here?"

Antoinette nodded her head, her face turning from embarrassment to worry. "Grandmother, are you alright?"

Madame Gothi gave her head a quick shake to compose herself and lifted her chin, her face returning to its cold expression. "Do not let me catch you or any of the other girls wandering away when you should be practicing." She ordered through tight lips. Antoinette nodded her head, still looking concerned, but scampered off in the direction the other dancers had gone. Then Gothi turned around to look at Astrid. "Where did he go?" was all she asked.

"He left with Senora Heather… They are going to discuss 'business matters' in her dressing room." Astrid replied, fidgeting her fingers when she said '_business matters'_.

Madame Gothi lifted an eyebrow at Astrid's statement. "Well, he'll be occupied for some time." She muttered under her breath.

"Could someone explain me what's going on?" Ruffnut asked, confused at why Astrid emphasized _business matters_ like that.

Madame Gothi looked at Ruffnut and smiled at her. Despite what the stage hands may have muttered about the old woman, Astrid knew the dance mistress had a warm heart of gold under the cold exterior she showed. Without a word, she turned and quickly walked away, leaving a confused Ruffnut in her wake.

The sound of props falling echoed through the rest of the stage, and Astrid yelped as someone fell into her and they fell to the ground with a loud thud. Astrid quickly stood up with some difficulty due to her long dress, and angrily turned around to see the one who had bumped into her. Snotlout.

"You idiot! Can't you see were you are going?! What are you doing here, anyway?!"

Snotlout would usually reply that it wasn't his fault, but since it was Astrid he had bumped into he simply stared at her like an idiot, a dumb-like expression on his face. It was not until Hiccup skipped towards the duo, followed by Toothless, Meatlug and Hookfang. Ruffnut stared at the dragons in astonishment; however did they fit backstage?!

"Sorry for that, Mademoiselle Astrid." Hiccup apologized, trying to hide his blushing cheeks from her. "We were heading towards the stage to light up the torches of the props."

"Yeah, we were!" Snotlout jumped back to his feet and pushed Hiccup aside. "But now that we're here, why don't we take a little time to ourselves?" Snotlout arched his eyebrows seductively, just to receive a punch in the jaw.

"Keep with that and I'll make sure you get kicked out!" Astrid snapped.

"No, no, no, no! Mademoiselle, I'm sure we can find a solution to this!" Hiccup intervened once again as Meatlug dragged Snotlout away.

Astrid huffed as she crossed her arms. But before anyone could say anything else, Fishlegs came running from stage. "Mademoiselle Astrid, we're lifting the curtain in ten minutes!"

The blonde girl let out an exasperation sigh and gave the stable boys a crossed look. "I'll deal with you two later."

* * *

"Muk, could you tell me again why do you want to see the performance from the chandelier room floor?" Silk muttered, carrying Snowdrop on his head, leading the way up through the dark passage. Annoyingly, wherever he nearly slipped, his only wing flapping in reflex. His fake, orange colored tail, sewn into the stump where his real tail had once been, was hanging limply. "I mean, we can hear it much better from beneath the stage."

"But I can't see _her_ from beneath the stage!" Muk snapped, tightening his grip on Silk's fake tail. "Besides, beneath the stage is too close to the singers!"

" Well, if you don't like singing at all, why do you want to come with me at all? Goblins hate _every_ type of singing, but you like to hear Mademoiselle Astrid's. Are you half-deaf or something?"

"Very funny. No, I'm not deaf, for your information! It's just that Mademoiselle Astrid's voice is not as high-pitched as that of the harpy."

Snowdrop perked up her ears. "What's a harpy?"

Muk and Silk froze.

"A… A black, ugly bird!" Silk brought up. If he told Snowdrop what an actual harpy was, Voltaire would kill him. "Anyway, we're almost there."

Silk used his snout to open a secret door, leading out into the thick railing and cornice in which the door to the chandelier's support room. The device and lock keeping the chandelier from plummeting down and falling on top of three a quarter of the audience. The trio slid out of the secret tunnel and Silk closed the secret door.

The people of high society were already in their seats, waiting for the performance to begin. The orchestra was getting ready for the next three hours, everyone was in their place; even Count Dagur Derangé was already in box five, waiting to hear the melodic voice of Astrid.

"I hate that guy." Muk muttered upon setting his gaze upon the Count.

"Me too." Silk added. "He was the one who brought Heather in the first place, or so I've heard. Apparently, he introduced her to Mildew and her 'nightingale voice' was so beautiful he made her the star of the Opera House in that instant."

"You mean the harpy?"

Muk chuckled. "Yes, Snowdrop. The harpy."

"Oh." She looked up at Silk. "What's this one about, Sil?"

"Well, it tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery Gypsy, Carmen. José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties, yet loses Carmen's love to the glamorous toreador Escamillo, after which José…" Silk hesitated to tell her what happened next.

"In other words, it's a love triangle, kid." Muk rescued him. "Be quiet, it's about to begin!"

The crowd went silent as the orchestra started playing; the music of the first act started as lively and fast paced, almost confusing Snowdrop, before it descended into slower tones, then ascending back to its fast pace. The Maestro, a fat man with a long moustache and blonde hair named Gobber, stroked his conducting baton through the air like a sword, but with the gentleness of a feather and swiftness of a whip, the orchestra following his motional instructions. The music changed between fast and slow paces in a rather confusing way, but that's what gave it its unique touch.

"Hehe, I can already imagine One-Eye complaining back down." Silk laughed. "I feel sorry for the others."

"I feel sorry for Glump." Muk whined, trying to cover his ears slightly so that the music would not make his ears bleed.

Finally, the curtains parted, and the scene was that of a marked place in Seville, Spain, getting ready for the day. When the opera actors started singing, that's when Hell went loose for Muk. All the combined voices were driving him insane, and he swore his head would explode from all the voices. But if it meant he could see Astrid perform, then he had no objection.

"I wish I had brought my ear plugs!" Muk exclaimed, pulling his ears down as if wanting to rip them off.

"Why didn't you bring them? You're already starting to sound like One-Eye!" Silk replied, rolling his eyes.

"Are there any dragons there, Sil?"

"Didn't he just tell you what it was about?"

Finally, the moment he had longed for arrived. There she danced into the stage, wearing a beautiful gypsy-styled dress, with red skirt and white top with red roses trimmed. Her beautiful blonde hair like the sun was tied up in a wild bun, in order to make her look more 'wild-spirited'.

Then she started singing.

Were it someone else he would have covered his ears to try and keep the horrible sound out, but when Astrid sung, Muk felt like an angel was singing. The usually hurtful noise became one of the most beautiful sounds coming from a human's throat he could imagine; the Goblin thought not even the chorus of Paradise was compared to that of Astrid's voice. His heart started beating at such a quick pace that he thought it would burst out of his chest at any moment.

Eyes, those dazzling sapphire eyes of hers that glimmered in such cloudy essence.

Her skin, so pure and shire, was so soft as the sand.

Her sun-blonde hair was so beautiful and her dress absolutely stunning.

Her hands were so feminine, and her lips adorned in a glorious red.

And her voice… Such a soothing song of an angel's…

That's why he could never stand to see Astrid in the arms of another, even if it was just an act. When Astrid threw the rose at Francois, who was playing Don José, Muk felt his blood starting to boil.

"_If only you could hear me calling out your name in worship and love…_" He sadly thought as he watched his angel dance like a ballerina. "_If only your eyes could set foot to mine and notice me adoring you, your caressing voice and your wonderful dance._"

If only he could show her in his way how much he valued her. He hadn't precisely known her for decades, but what she had shown him was enough for him to reassure her for a lifetime.

Every moment he needed her. He wanted her near him, he wanted her there with him, he wanted her to be his and his alone, he wanted her forever. His lips died to touch hers, his clawed hands died to touch her…

But he knew it would never be.


	4. First Meeting

A Place to Call Home

Chapter 4

"Argh!¡ I can't stand it!" One-Eye hissed as he took two cushions with his claws and covered his ears in an attempt to block out the music. "If I hear one more note I'll staple my ears!"

Voltaire rolled his eyes as he accommodated the plush cushions the Monstrous Nightmare had scrambled out of place. "Why don't you use the earplugs, then?"

"Glump got ahead of me."

"What did you expect?" Nighthawk snapped from his usual resting place, his tail twitching in irritation. "He is a Goblin. You know his kind is very sensitive to music."

"They'd have to be, with those big ears of theirs. "Shack chuckled, lying on top of a cat bed ('borrowed' from Heather's cat) with his belly facing up. "I mean, I bet every sound they hear is triplicated ten times with that size of ears."

"Don't make fun of their ears! Would you like Glump or Muk to make fun of your odd-eyes?" Voltaire hissed

"Hey! Don't mess my heterochromia in this!"

"Speaking of Glump and Muk, have you ever wondered where they came from?" One-Eye inquired, finally taking the cushions off his ears when the music momentarily stopped. "I mean, Muk did say they came from the Scafell Pike, but those whip scars on his back don't seem to be injuries obtained from rock cuts."

Nighthawk didn't say anything. He did now know where they had actually come from, the place they had escaped from, but Muk and Glump had asked him not to tell the others. He was a dragon of words. If they asked him not to tell, he wouldn't. And he also knew about both their emotional wounds…

Maybe they used to live in mines. I think Silk once said that human miners were starting to capture Goblins and forced them to work at their mines."

Voltaire nodded. "That would make sense."

"Speaking of Glump, where is he?" Shack yawned, speaking in a casual tone.

"He is in Snowdrop' cave. I asked him to pick up Snowdrop's toys, since someone is keeping me busy." Voltaire turned to look at One-Eye, who took a few seconds to react.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked in confusion.

Nighthawk rolled his eyes as he got back to sleep.

Glump, meanwhile, picked up small rubber balls and biting sticks from around Snowdrop's small cave. He didn't mind picking up her toys, but he did wish she was a little more organized with her things. Ah, but he could never get angry at Snowdrop, no sir! She was like a little sister to him. Muk saw her as some kind of niece, but he was not as open on it like Glump was. As the Goblin placed the last of the balls on Snowdrop's wooden box, something else caught his eye, on Snowdrop's straw nest. A worn-down, quite dirty stuffed dragon. It was colored a dull copper brown, with two patches on its body and one on the left wing. Glump walked towards Snowdrop's bed and picked the stuffed dragon up, holding it in one hand.

"Hi again…" he said, talking to the doll like it was alive. "You're all alone too, it seems…"

Waves of memories coursed through the Goblin's mind as he stared at the doll.

_Look, Helfer! Look what daddy made for you!_

Glump's eyes started to water. He held the dragon doll close to his chest and closed his eyes shut, his ears drooping to the sides of his head as tears formed in the corners of his eyes to finally roll down his cheeks. He had not thought about it for a long time, but Snowdrop's doll brought him painful memories.

"Glump?"

The Goblin's ears straightened up, and he quickly wiped his tears away as he quickly but discretely hid the plush dragon from sight as he turned his head around. Shack was standing on the entrance, giving the Goblin an odd look.

"Were you… Crying?" the Terrible Terror inquired

"Of course not! Don't be ridiculous!" Glump tried to sound natural, but it did not work.

"What do you have there? Is that what I think it is?"

Letting out a sigh of defeat, Glump gently put the dragon doll back on Snowdrop's nest. Shack cocked a scaly eyebrow and flapped his wings to hover next to the Goblin, staring at the doll curiously.

"Snowdrop's doll? That old thing is what is making you teary-eyed? Voltaire found it two years ago in the props, remember?"

Glump nodded grimly. "Yes, I do."

"Wait a second… you are not wearing the ear-plugs? It seems you can perfectly hear me."

Glump grinned. "Let's just say I don't have as much of a distaste for music as Muk does. I actually like music, but if he finds out…" Glump sighed in dismay. "I would never hear the end of it!"

Shack nodded. "You like music? I thought Goblins hated it."

"I did hate once, until…" Glump stopped in mid-sentence.

"Until?"

"It's… nothing. I don't want to talk about it."

Despite his curiosity getting the better of him, Shack decided to respect the Goblin's decision. Besides, he didn't want to get on Glump's bad side –Yes, he _has_ a bad side-, especially since he was practically larger than him. Even Muk was wary not to make his friend angry; while Glump was usually friendly and friendly, when angry he became a completely different Goblin.

"Hey, Shack. Muk has been saying that the humans are starting to suspect something is going on in the Opera House, is that true?" Glump decided to change the subject.

"It has, I'm afraid." Voltaire joined in the conversation, having overheard when he was on his way to check on Glump. "Mildew and the stable boy, Hiccup, have realized that there are rations of food going missing, not to mention that Muk's pranks on Mademoiselle Heather are making her suspicious that someone is harassing her."

Shack started to laugh. "As if! The idea behind harassing is to peek at _attractive_ ladies, not ostriches trying to pass for humans."

Glump joined him, having to support on the wall to keep himself on foot. Voltaire's serious look remained unchanged, however.

"I don't find the finny part in all of this! If One-Eye hears this, he'll become hysteric!"

"Voltaire, everything makes One-eye become hysteric."

"Anyway, guys, I don't think we should worry about it. We have tons of traps for intruders." Glump added. "The only one who knows how to avoid it, apart from us, is Stormfly."

"Well, you two, I think the performance is about to end. We should go and wait for the others to return." The Skrill sighed in dismay and dread. "I hope Muk won't try to do one of his 'pranks' today."

* * *

The end of the performance was met with the audience standing up and clapping at Mademoiselle Astrid's performance, some going as far as to throw roses and flowers at the singer as a show of admiration and praise. Not even Heather's performances were met with this much praise and ovation, something which the Prima Donna saw with contempt an jealously, secretly fearing the blonde would replace her as the lead singer. Because of this, she tried to make Astrid's life as miserable as possible.

Ruffnut and her brother, Tuffnut (who wore a normal musician black suit with a black bowtie, and his blonde hair properly combed and tied into a ponytail) were new, so Hiccup took it upon himself to tell them about the way the Opera House worked. Fishlegs eventually joined the tour, his shift being covered by a young lad named Pierre, and Snotlout reluctantly tagged along (if that meant being away from the dragons). Soon, the newbies' ears had been flooded with countless rumor of mysterious creatures living in the Opera House, but no one had ever seen them. However, dragons' food disappeared, as well as some props, not to mention that in the past four years animals often went missing, mostly sheep and hens, only for their rests to appear someplace backstage.

They heard them first by a few stagehands, grumbling over who would go fetch various props that were being kept below stage. They all complained about the creatures and how they feared their wrath would bring an end to someone's life… for the first time. Antoinette and the other dance girls also had tales. They had been passed on by Gobber, the Orchestra's Maestro who seemed to be the Opera's chief storyteller. It was through these girls that Ruffnut and Tuffnut learned about said beings cloaked in mystery, seen by few but heard by many.

Mademoiselle Astrid, however, never let gothic romantic sensibilities run ramped, and thought realistically. She assumed it was simply an animal that had snuck inside and always managed to escape from the humans' eyesight. Heather refused to listen 'made-up tales from low employees', but ever since the incidents occurring against her started to occur, she believed they were pranking her.

But unfortunately, Ruffnut, like most of the other girls, were falling over Count Dagur.

In fact, it seemed everyone, save for Madame Gothi, Francois, Hiccup, Snotlout and Astrid, were taken by the Count's charm and handsome smile. Mildew fell over himself to please him, Heather constantly flirted with the young man, and the girls of the dance were in a constant state of giggles whenever he was present.

Right then, the Count was discussing about the 'rumors' spreading around the Opera House in Mildew's office. Dagur refused to believe such nonsenses, as he called them, and for the past for years he had attempted to fins a logical explanation in order to calm Mildew's fears, but to no avail.

"For the last time, Mildew, there is no such thing as ghosts!" Dagur hissed like a snake about to strike. "Someone is trying to make fools out of us!"

"And how do you explain the missing animals? The stolen food? The awful accidents falling unto Mademoiselle Heather! Someone is the cause of it, I know!"

"Please! Somebody might be sneaking into the stables and stealing the animals under that stable boy's nose! And the stagehands might be attempting to get back at Mademoiselle Heather for her harsh treatment and horrible tantrums!"

Mildew was panicking; Dagur noticed when the old man started to comb back his gray hair. "But monsieur, we have called for the police numerous times, and none of the officers on guard were able to catch any person on the act!"

Dagur would have yelled in fury and frustration if he were not in the Opera House.

Hiccup, meanwhile, decided to end the tour at the stables, where he introduced Ruffnut and Tuffnut to the animals, but mostly to the dragons. The twins nearly jumped when he introduced them to Toothless, for they had never seen a Night fury, and less one with so good proportions and well-cared for.

"Wow! I bet you paid much for him!" Tuffnut commented as he examined Toothless's legs.

When Toothless perked up his ears, offended, Hiccup spoke before the dragon could strike. "No, I did not buy him. I found him when I was small, we've been friends ever since."

"I bet many people would buy him for a very good price." Ruffnut added.

Snotlout groaned as he leaned against on of the wooden poles. "He could, but he doesn't want to! I keep telling him that if he sold that dumb Night Fury, we would be able to live in the lap of luxury for the rest of our lives, but _nooo_! He says he's attached to him! HE didn't even accept Count Dagur's proposal!

"Proposal? What proposal?"

Hiccup sighed, but Fishlegs responded the question. "See, when Hiccup and Toothless first came here, Count Dagur was instantly interested in buying Toothless. He has a collection of rare dragons, and he offered Hiccup a great sum of money for the Night Fury, but Hiccup refused the offer. They've been in bad terms since then."

"How could I ever think of selling my best friend to _him_? He would sell his dragons to the Devil just for money!" Hiccup retorted sharply, making Snotlout flinch.

Stormfly stared at the humans' argue about Dagur's morality. That was the kind of human Nighthawk would like had he not been abused so much by the Gypsies. The Poisonous Whiptail, and the other dragons, got a very bad impression of humanity during their stay at the Carnival, and it would be very hard to make them think otherwise.

"They're talking about Dagur again?" Hookfang whispered to her from his box, speaking in the Dragon Language due to the presence of the humans. "I think they'll eventually make a whole gossip column for him in the papernews."

Barf peeked his head from his own box. "You said it wrong." Belch was next. "It's newspaper."

Hookfang rolled his eyes in annoyance. "What are you? A dictionary?"

"Hey, speaking of which, did Astrid get that angry when Snotdumb ran into her?" Fishlegs joined the conversation

"She was fuming like me when I do not get my favorite fish, I tell you!" Hookfang chuckled.

"I have a feeling she'll show up here in any minute to yell at both Hiccup and Snotdumb."

Suddenly, Stormfly's pupils became slits. "Speak of the devil." She whispered. "Here she comes."

"Hiccup!" Astrid's sharp tone as she walked into the stable, back in the dress she had been wearing earlier that day. "I need to talk to you and that pea-brained cousin of yours _now_!"

"Well, I think you don't need us right now, so…" Fishlegs grinned nervously while he dragged Ruffnut and Tuffnut away. When Astrid spoke in that tone, she was going straight to business.

Before Snotlout could rush to Astrid's side and attempt to flirt with her, Hookfang quickly kicked him into one of the empty horse stables, while Meatlug made her way over there in order to prevent him from interfering in the talk. Toothless perked up his ears and stepped back as Astrid made her way in front of Hiccup.

"Listen here, pal!" she snapped, pointing her finger at Hiccup's face. "I'm not tolerating that idiot running into me like that! If it ever repeats again I swear I'll have him fired!"

"Don't worry, Mademoiselle Astrid. It _won't_ happen again." Hiccup shot a small glare at Snotlout, who was attempting to push Meatlug out of the way. Despite the obvious differences in size and weight.

"Out of the way, you mutant ox!" he was saying.

Astrid's fuming temper cooled down, and she calmly yet coldly stared at Hiccup. "Well, if that's all you have to say, Hiccup, I'll be going."

Toothless, however, quickly got his tail in the way of her feet, making the young lady trip; in a fit of instinct, Hiccup quickly reached out and caught her by the waist before she could fall into the dirty hay. Toothless, Hookfang and Meatlug grinned, while Stormfly rolled her eyes and Barf and Belch shook his… their heads. Astrid looked up, and her temper flared up like a tigress.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"But Mademoiselle-"

Astrid narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Let. Go. Of. Me."

Seeing he had no other choice, Hiccup did as he was told… Astrid fell into the dirty hay for, staining her dress with dragon dirtiness. As she stood up, she looked venomously at Hiccup.

"Look what you did, you idiot!" she snapped, making Hiccup hold up his arms in self-defense.

"What?! I just did what you told me!" he said, freaking out discretely as she stamped her foot on the ground and walked away. Toothless frowned and smacked Hiccup's head with his wing before turning away.

"What?" Hiccup inquired, turning to look at the Night Fury with a confused look. "I did what she told me!"

* * *

Silk and Muk watched with amusement as the carriage pulled away. They couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation. The sight of the handsome Count Dagur Derangé being annoyed by an old man was extremely comical to the Changewing and the goblin. Muk leaned against the ghastly stone gargoyles he was hiding behind while Silk was peeking his head and long neck from behind a dragon statue, the two of them laughing for a long time, not caring if anyone heard them; they were too busy preparing for the opening gala of the season.

Indeed, the Opera hadn't been this entertaining since… Well, since before Heather first places her overgrown foot on the stage. That's what Muk liked about Astrid too; she was so unlike the others. Despite Dagur's compliments and good looks, she saw past the whole façade and would have none of his bullying, even though she would never openly speak it outloud in public. She was intelligent and courageous, outwitting Dagur and standing up to Heather.

His smile faded at that thought. True, the girl he had found himself in love with was different compared to the squealing dance trollops. But she was still a pretty face that would cream at the sight of him should he reveal himself. He hardened his jaw and drooped his ears to the sides as he thought about how often he would come to see her while she was alone in her dressing room. He supposed the whole ordeal began when he heard her singing for the first time. At first he found her physically attractive, something he had never done with a human, and eventually he saw her interact with other people. She was a sweet, kind, refined young lady with a hot temper, just the type he liked.

Silk felt a grin on his lips as he recalled the count's displeasure at Mildew's insistence of the 'evil spirits' lurking around the Opera House. Dagur did not believe in 'ghosts', he was far too 'rational' for such things. However, the Changewing knew how greatly upsetting it was for the man to receive such reminders of their existence. His grin grew wider as he thought that one day soon, Dagur would get the 'scare' of his life.

The bells of Notre Dame sounded the hour, reminding Silk and Muk that it would be getting dark soon, and Snowdrop always went to sleep exactly after the sun went down. Voltaire would kill them if they went back late.

However, as the two turned around to go back to the dark passage they had come from, they noticed Snowdrop was missing. It was not very hard to spot her in the dark due to her albinism, but that did not mean she would not occasionally sneak away from Silk and Muk in order to satisfy her curiosity.

"Snowdrop?" Silk called out to her gently, and grew worried when she did not reply.

"Perhaps she grew tired of waiting for us and went back to the lair." Muk suggested.

"Voltaire is going to kill me if she doesn't show up!"

"Come on, Silk! It's not like she has not memorized the tunnels leading down to the lair after all the times she has gone through them with us!"

Oh, how wrong he was.

IT was dark inside the passages. Darker than the velvet black curtains that hid the backstage world. Snowdrop was slowly beginning to regret her decision to sneak away from Silk and Muk in order to explore a little. She had always seen Muk peer into a room through some leaks on the walls, and she was dying to find out what he was spying at. But the dark pathways she was walking through had no light, and her night vision was not yet fully developed, so she was having difficulty in finding her way. Ah, but it was too late to turn back.

"I wish Oney was here…." Snowdrop whispered, her paws reaching out to touch… anything really. "So this is how he sees with his bad eye…" she whispered to herself, not liking it one bit. She continued a few more steps before sighing and stopping herself. This was foolish, damn foolish, and Muk and Silk would get mad at her. Best that she turn around and head back-

"Ow!" Snowdrop stumbled backwards after hitting the hard surface. Did she just walk into a wall? But… How could that be? She had just come from that direction, all she had done was turn around…

"Strange." She muttered, rubbing her head and attempting to side step the wall or hard object she had hit. The problem was… there was no where to side step. "How?" She kept trying to go around the wall, but it was as if the wall just kept going on! "What's going on?" she asked, her little voice rising with panic and her ears perking up as she attempted to move again, but kept coming in contact with a hard unseen barrier.

Snowdrop turned a different direction, hoping somehow she could find her way back… but it was too blocked off. She was completely stunned. She knew there wasn't a wall there before, but somehow… it had appeared! It was like… she was slowly being boxed in…

"HELLO?" she cried. "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?"

Silence

"MUK! SILK! I NEED HELP! I'M TRAPPED!"

Footsteps. She heard steps slowly approaching. "Hello? I'm stuck, can you-"

The footsteps paused. Snowdrop's ears perked up as she listened closely, but not a sound was being made. "Hello?" Faintly at first, but growing ever so slowly, was the sound of heavy breathing. Snowdrop swallowed a rather large lump in her throat, her paws trembling. "H-h-hello?"

The panic started when she felt hot breath over her head and neck, and when she looked up to see if Silk had finally found her, she froze completely when she realized she was staring not into Silk's purple eyes, but into a stranger's green eyes.

Toothless was walking back to the stable when he heard someone calling out. Most of the stagehands and employees, Hiccup and Snotlout included, had gone home, while the dancers were up in the Opera's dormitories. He was backstage, looking for something to nibble on when he head a little female voice coming over from one of the Orchestra pits. Like all Night Furies, his curiosity got the better of him and took a peek into the pit. He was surprised to find a Night Fury hatchling, but she was unlike any others he had ever seen. Her scales were a pale white, her eyes a ruby red. As he sniffed her, he caught the scent of stone. As soon as she felt his hot breath, she looked up with terrified eyes; she did now know if she could trust him, or if he was friendly. Toothless leaned into the pit to try and sniff the rest of her body, but she stepped back in fright, her ears against her skull. The first thing he knew about hatchlings was that they were very sensible to yelling; it frightened them and made them feel threatened, so it was not an option. Hatchlings needed to be handled with care and love, which meant to be as gentle with them as possible.

"Hello there." He spoke softly. "How did you get here, little one?


	5. Keep Your Hand At The Level of Your Eyes

A Place To Call Home

Chapter 5

Snowdrop didn't know what to do when the older Night Fury spoke to her, asking how she had gotten into the orchestra pit unseen. But she had not the courage to speak up. She feared for her life, she did not know if this dragon was friendly.

"Don't worry, I don't bite." Toothless tried to add some humor to the situation to calm the hatchling a bit, but it didn't show many results. In fact, it only made Snowdrop step back and her rear touched the wall, as if thinking the wall would protect her. "How did you get here, little one?"

Again, she did not reply. He had never been so good with hatchlings at all, despite his fondness of them, not that there were many hatchlings in the Opera Populaire, anyway. Since there was no one around, he sometimes went to the stage to have a nice, quiet time to himself, but he had never seen another Night fury at the theatre. So how did a hatchling, and a white one, get there unseen? Anyone would have noticed! Well, he could not just leave her there. If Dagur were to set his greedy eyes on her…

Snowdrop's terror was multiplied tenfold when Toothless slid down into the orchestra pit, grabbed her tail in his teeth gently, lift her off the ground and, with a flap of his wings, he was back on stage. As he walked towards a direction she did not know, she started wondering where he was taking her. Was it the… carnival One-Eye didn't stop talking about? She hoped not. Judging by the way One-Eye spoke of the carnival, it sounded like a very bad place.

But she dare not speak still.

When Toothless came into the stables, he noticed most of the animals setting their curious eyes on him, and they noticed his charge. "There's Toothless, but what is he carrying?" one of the mares neighed.

"It looks like a younger of his kind, but why is she that color?" a sheep added

"No matter that! Where did he get her?" a copper brown stallion inquired.

A goat replied. "Maybe she is the thing that has been wandering around the Opera House at night."

Toothless accelerated his steps until he was back at the dragons' side of the stables. He released the hatchling unto his straw bed, and once again she ran to the corner and was leaning against the wall, her pupils complete slits in terror, her breathing fast and heavy. He felt the shades of his fellow dragons all over his box. Stormfly had been taken by Hiccup to take some heavy boxes back home, so she wouldn't be back until later.

"What is… that?" Hookfang inquired as he lowered his head to examine Snowdrop more closely, making the white fury try and hide beneath her own wings.

"It's a hatchling, genius!" Meatlug replied sharply. "And she's so cute!"

"Where did she come from?" Barf asked.

Belch added. "And where are her parents?"

"She's an albino hatchling, I found her in the orchestra pit, and I don't know where her parents are." Toothless answered the tree questions in one single sentence.

Hookfang lifted up his head away from the hatchling. "Well, do you even know her name?"

"She won't talk."

"Poor thing, she's terrified." Meatlug's maternal instinct took over and, gently pushing Toothless aside, she sat next to Snowdrop's trembling figure. "There, honey, don't worry. You're safe now, we won't hurt you, but we won't be able to find your family if you don't tell us. Can you at least tell us how do you call yourself?"

Snowdrop softened at the maternal warmth in the Gronckle's voice. Her fears slowly dissipated and completely disappeared at the female dragon's tender gaze, in a way almost similar to Voltaire's when he tucked her in her nest. Finally, her vocal cords responded, and she was able to stutter softly. "M-my n-name is S-snowdrop."

Toothless could not believe it; a Gronckle was able to calm a hatchling not belonging to her species while he himself wasn't able to calm a hatchling which could as well be his own blood child?

Hookfang was eager to tease him about it. "Well, well, if you couldn't handle another's hatchling, I can't imagine what are you going to do when you have a clutch of your own."

"Haha, very funny, Hookfang."

Snowdrop examined the group of dragons, this time much closer to Meatlug. The Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang reminded her vaguely of One-Eye, except Hookfang had both his eyes intact. Toothless looked very much like her, except he was bigger and his scales were black, so she assumed he was another type of Night Fury. Barf and Belch were a completely different thing, she had never seen a dragon with more than one head; not even in Muk and Glump's stories about the Snaptrappers in their homeland was she able to even imagine the four-headed plant-like dragon.

"Say, Snowdrop." Toothless tried to hide his embarrassment. "How did you get in the orchestra pit?"

"I was… I was exploring the secret tunnels, but I got lost. I couldn't to back."

"So it's true," said Barf. "It was really another dragon that roamed the catacombs at night."

"What? Look at her! She's not big enough to go through those passages by herself! Besides, she got lost!" Belch countered. "That means there must be others living with her."

It was Hookfang's turn to ask. "Snowdrop, was there someone else in the secret passages with you?"

Snowdrop nodded rapidly. "Yes, I was with Muk and Silk."

"What?"

"Who are they?" Meatlug asked gently.

"Silk is a Changewing, and Muk is a… I don't recall what the name of his kind was, but he is thin with big, batty ears and feet with only one toe."

"A Goblin?!" Hookfang snapped. "That's not possible! There are no Goblins in urban areas like Paris!"

"But he is a Goblin! And so is Glump!"

"Glump?" Belch repeated. A thought came to his mind. "Kiddo, how many of you are there in those secret passages?"

"It's me, Muk, Silk, Glump, Oney, Volty, Nitawk, and Sack."

Toothless was initially taken aback by the rather silly names, but he remembered that she was only about four years old, a toddler in dragon years, and she was probably just learning to speak.

"Wow, if the humans ever find out about this, they'll have to search for another place to live!" Barf exclaimed in surprise.

"I believe we will need some more explaining, Snowdrop." Meatlug blocked the young Night fury from the others' view. "But right now, you must be tired, am I right?"

Snowdrop opened her mouth widely and let out a yawn as a reply.

"Do you mind sleeping with Toothless?"

Once again, Snowdrop examined the older Night Fury, before giving her verdict. "I don't think I'll mind."

Toothless let out a sigh of relief. At the very least the hatchling did not think of him as a weirdo. Meatlug nodded at the white fury as she and the other dragons retreated to their boxes. Toothless lay down on his straw bed, stretched his wings and yawned before lying his head on his paws. He closed his eyes, but as he was about to enter Morpheus's realm, he swore he could feel Snowdrop crawling under his left wing and cuddle against him.

* * *

The dance girls yelped in fear when Gobber rose up his arms, holding a black towel with his thumbs, and the rest of his fingers sticking out like claws. He just loved to add 'dramatic effects' when he was storytelling the girls, at least until Madame Gothi kicked him out. Most of his stories involved legends from around Europe, which he claimed had heard from various people coming from different countries in his youth. The stories he mostly told were about vampires, were-wolves, banshees, lost souls, even a Galician legend about a procession of souls wandering restlessly through the deep forests of Galicia. But lately, Gobber had started telling storied about the so-called 'restless spirits' wandering around the Opera House, looking for new victims to take their place so that they could finally move on. The dance girls, Antoinette in particular, felt intimidated by the shadows he was casting.

"Like yellow parchment is their skin!" Gobber chanted like a sacred mantra. "Great black holes serves as a nose that never grew. You must be always on your guard, or they will catch you with their blood-red claws."

At the last sentence he dug his nails into Antoinette's shoulders, the girl yelped in surprise and fear, followed by the rest of the girls. However, that was just the beginning of it. Soon, Gobber started to chant.

_Wake up, hide in the hay,_

_Goblins are coming to take you away!_

Gobber walked closer to one of the candles to project the shadows of his both hands, which he twisted in front of the fire to make the shape of a bat-eared goblin with pointy teeth and nails, reaching out for a red-headed girl, who retreated deeper into her covers to hide from the hideous shape.

_Out of bed, hide under the floor,_

_Ghouls are going to kick down the door!_

With a swing of the towel, the Maestro extinguished almost every candle in the room, sending the whole room into darkness save for the moonlight going in through the windows.

_Crawl away, like a louse_

_Trolls are going to kick down the door!_

A scream resounded in the room as Gobber reached out to four girls sitting on the same bed, his face concealed by the towel he was using to scare the heck out of them just for fun. Oh, how much he was getting fun with this!

_Don't cry as you hug the ground_

_Kuros are going to burn down the house!_

With yet another swing of the towel, all the candles were lit up once more by a mysterious force, but the whole room exploded into screams when, instead of Gobber, they found nothing more than a skeleton under the towel which had flung just one moment ago.

_Outside, hide in the park,_

_Maybe we'll lose them in the dark!_

Antoinette jumped from her bed when Gobber's cold hands touched her waist, and she fell into some of her roommates when she tripped backwards. The girls landed on the wooden floor with a loud thud, and the old floor creaked under their weight like it was going to break.

_Hurry up! Hide by the well,_

_Careful witches don't put you under a spell!_

Once more, Gobber cast the shadows of witches upon some of the nearby candles, making it appear like there truly were witches hidden somewhere, waiting for a chance to snatch up the girls.

_Hide in the bushes are they near?_

_Were-wolves they know how to smell your fear!_

Coincidentally, a dog from outside let out a hurtful howl, further startling the dancers. It was like Gobber knew what was going to happen, as if he had planned this cruel joke from the beginning, but that couldn't be, could it?

_Close your eyes, don't look up._

_HERE COMES A GOBLIN TO GOBBLE YOU UP!_

With one last cackle, Gobber jumped unto one of the beds, just behind the chest where some of the candles were lit up, his entire shadow projecting with the shape of a great goblin reaching out for every girl in the room, sending them into one more fit of screaming.

Before he could continue with his psychological torment upon the young dancers, Madame Gothi walked into the room with a look that could be compared to that of the devil himself glaring upon an insect. She took the towel from the much taller man and tossed it away, all while giving him an ire-filled glare.

"Those who speak of what they know find, too late, that prudent silence is wise." She said, turning around to see the rest of the girls flinch like they had done something wrong before twirling her head around to face Gobber once more. "Gobber Roter, hold your tongue!" With one last warning glare, the old woman, taking the lasso Gobber had earlier used to frighten the dancers, with one wring of her seemingly-fragile wrist sent it flying through the air and into Gobber's neck. "Keep your hand at the level of your eyes!"

* * *

"COULDN'T YOU HAVE KEPT HER AT THE SIGHT OF YOUR EYES?!" Voltaire's roar nearly sent both Muk and Silk flying against the wall. The Skrill was sending sparks of electricity all around him, his scales were cackling with lighting, making his usually calm demeanor look like nothing but a mask to cover his true nature. While he never liked to solve things by the use of violence, when it was about Snowdrop, he was capable of anything.

Even Nighthawk could do nothing about Voltaire's wrath. He was inwardly terrified, in fact, hiding behind the couch to escape from the lighting bolts the Skrill was emanating. As soon as Muk and Silk had returned and explained they lost Snowdrop, Nighthawk sent Shack, One-eye and Glump to search for any clues of where she could have wandered. Oh, how he envied them.

"Voltaire, calm down!" Silk shouted. "Snowdrop couldn't have gone far! She's just a hatchling, she is not strong enough to-"

"That's my point! She's just a hatchling! We don't know where she is, or if she's safe!"

"Come on, Voltaire! What could possibly happen to her? She is probably still inside the opera house!"

"Wait, I think I get what he's trying to say." Muk finally spoke, gathering the courage to peek his head from behind Silk's body. "If she were to trip out from the passages, and she was found by any of the stagehands, it'll be a complete disaster!"

"You don't get it, do you?" Voltaire snapped once more, ignoring the Goblin's attempts to calm him down. "It's not only about the stagehands, it's about Count Dagur! Have you forgotten he is always looking for new 'additions' to his dragon collection? Have you forgotten he once tried to buy the other Night Fury from the stable boy?!"

"Toothless was his name, I think."

"I agree with Voltaire on that one." Nighthawk was finally able to speak from behind the couch. "If Dagur were to see Snowdrop, he would do anything to get those sticky hands of his on her. The sooner we find her, the better."

Just as the Poisonous Whiptail was done talking, Glump and Shack returned, their faces overcome with worry, as the Terrible Terror was the first to speak.

"Bad news, we found no trace of her in the rooftop passages."

Voltaire's cackling ceased, but the look of worry and fear was still present on his half-disfigured face. The few times he had actually been angry, his body always became alight with electricity, characteristic of his species; there were a few times he used them to grill the fish, instead of fire. He liked the taste of 'electrified' fish.

"She was not in the boxes, either." Glump added as he wiped sweat away from his face, the two long bangs of red hair slightly humid. "Well, she wouldn't be able to go into one, anyway."

"Has One-Eye returned yet?"

Nighthawk shook his head. "No, he hasn't. I hope he has better luck than you did."

Voltaire hissed at Silk and Muk once more. "I still can't believe it! How could you two lose her?!"

Finally, it was Muk's turn to snap. "Would you stop asking it, for goodness sake?! We've already told you! We were watching Count Dagur drive away in his carriage, and when we turned she was gone! Or what? Do you want me to put a tracking method on her?!"

"That wouldn't be such a bad idea…" Shack muttered under his breath.

Muk and Glump's ears twitched as they heard the sound of footsteps coming their way. After a while, One-Eye rushed into the chamber, panting like he had just carried fifty tons of iron. There was a look of utter terror on his eyes.

"Guys, I'm afraid we may have a problem!" he panted.

"Let me guess!" Silk sighed. "You didn't find Snowdrop."

One-Eye shook his head frantically. "On the contrary! I found her, but-"

Voltaire abruptly pushed Shack and Glump aside –once again unknowingly- to and nearly roared at One-Eye's face. "Why is she not with you, then?! Where is she?!"

"Don't worry, apology accepted!" Shack growled as he and Glump stood back up, the latter with Muk's help.

"That's the thing I wanted to tell you about!" One-Eye hissed, stepping back from Voltaire in case the Skrill started sparking up again. "I'm afraid… someone got ahead of me."

He was not prepared for everyone present yelling a simultaneous 'WHAT?!'

"Who? Who found her before you did?!" This time it was Nighthawk who grew alarmed. This was very grave! They had not yet spoken to Snowdrop about the Taboo, the Unbreakable Law, she did not know it was strictly forbidden to speak to humans. If a human found her and she spoke they would be in hot water. All of them.

"Before you keep roaring at me, don't worry, all of you. It was not a human that found her." The dragons let out a sigh of relief. "It was Toothless."

….

One-Eye covered his ears for what was coming.

WHAT?!


	6. Revelations

A Place to Call Home

Chapter 6

Stormfly didn't return until next day, carrying Hiccup and, _reluctantly_, Snotlout. The first thing Hiccup did upon arriving was to go and check on the other dragons. The rest of the people working at the stable, on the animals' side, started complaining about Toothless as soon as he put a foot inside. A stout man in his thirties in charge of the horses, Mulch, stated that Toothless would let no one approach his box, acting as if he was protecting something.

Then, as always, Snotlout had to add insult to injury.

"I knew that dragon had a dark side! Ha!" he sneered. "Can we sell him now?"

Hiccup smacked his forehead in frustration. "For the hundredth time, no! Toothless it's not for sale!"

"Come on, Hiccup! Why keep such an aggressive dragon when you could easily get rid of him?"

"Well, I'd like to ask you the same about that hay coat you bought yesterday."

Snotlout scoffed incensed. "Why you-! How dare you say such a thing about my new coat! For what I paid for, it is purely and genuinely made of- ACHOO!" Snotlout let out the tenth sneeze that day. "… Unique." Snotlout sniffed the air when he caught the scent of something burning. "Hey, I think someone left the stove burning."

Hiccup was about to reply when he saw smoke rising from behind Snotlout's hay coat. And judging by the grin on Stormfly's face…

"Snotlout, I think you should take that coat off."

"Again with that! I'm not taking this finely made- Seriously, someone put off that damn stove!" Snotlout sniffed the air once more. When he looked backwards, he saw nothing more than Stormfly and a small flame on the back of his coat- Wait, what?!

Hiccup and Stormfly snickered when Snotlout panicked and ran around the stable in search of water. The both of them walked towards the dragon stables, where Hookfang, Meatlug and Barf and Belch were all around Toothless's box. When they took notice of Hiccup's presence, various scaly snouts and tongues brushed against the stable boy's face. Hiccup gently pushed them away with a grin, and walked towards the Night Fury's box

However, Toothless took a defensive posture over something, gently growling at his human master, telling him not to come any closer. Hiccup lifted up his hands in the defensive.

"What's wrong, bud? It's me, Hiccup. Why are you acting like this?" Hiccup tried to get closer, but Toothless growled louder and leaned against the wall. However, Hiccup managed to hear a low whining and purring noise coming from beneath him. His surprise augmented when a little speck of white peeked from under the Night Fury. Curious red eyes were staring up at him, pupils perfect ovals.

"What do you have there, bud?"

Toothless knew there was nothing else he could do. Snowdrop slid away from underneath his protective shadow and hear ears perked up. Luckily, he had explained her about the Unbreakable Law and that she could not speak the human tongue in presence of a human. Much to his surprise, she had never seen a human this close before; apparently, the dragons she lived hadn't had precisely _fond_ experiences with humans before.

Hiccup was amazed at what he saw. An albino Night Fury. He never thought he would live to encounter one; finding a Night Fury of a different coloration rather than the usual black color was a lifetime event. But then came the question, where did she come from? Where had Toothless gotten her?

"Hello there, little guy." Hiccup placed a hand on Snowdrop's head with a small smile. "How did you get here?"

Snowdrop was about to reply before she remembered the talk Toothless gave her a little while ago. So her reply was a simple purring noise. She had never being stroked by a human before, so the feeling was rather awkward, but after a while she came to like it; so much that her little tail started wagging. Hiccup chuckles at her antics.

Stormfly remained frozen in shock and horror all the time. Hookfang was the first to notice, but for the time being, he said nothing.

"Well, bud, do you mind if I took her for a little while?"

Stormfly reacted instantly as soon as those words left Hiccup's lips. She quickly but gently pushed Hiccup away from Snowdrop, picked her up by the tail and rushed to her own box. The rest of the dragons stared incredulously at her, but Hiccup's dumbfounded stared overshadows them all. Why would Stormfly take the albino hatchling away just like that? IT was just as if she already knew it, but that couldn't be… could it?

"Stormfly?" Hiccup walked closer to the Deadly Nadder, but she _snapped_ at _him_. She had never snapped at Hiccup in her entire life, but this hatchling meant something to her, he was sure. With a sigh of defeat, Hiccup nodded his head. "Okay, girl. I'll leave him with you, but still I have to check up on his health and find out where he came from. Speaking of which, I almost forgot you guys must be really hungry." Saying this, Hiccup walked away to fetch the dragons' daily meal.

All slit pupils fell on Stormfly.

"Aunt Stormy!" Snowdrop wrapped her paws around Stormfly's leg.

Barf whispered. "Aunt…"

"… Stormy?" Belch finished.

Stormfly said nothing.

"Is there something you have you say, Stormfly?" Toothless set his accusing eyes on her.

She remained silent.

"She's told us about the other dragons… and Goblins." Hookfang finished.

Stormfly froze. There was no way out of it. They knew.

"Well?" Toothless pressed on.

"If I tell you, they'll be angry with me. I promised them I would not tell anydragon, they are very secretive about it."

"Well, there's not much we don't already know." Meatlug replied softly. "How did you meet them?"

"And how did they get here?" Hookfang added

Stormfly looked down. She would regret this.

"Where do I begin?"

* * *

"Heather, I must implore that I stay-"

Heather groaned and gave Francois the cruelest of looks. "Be gone! I have many important matters to discuss with the Count and I do not need you breathing down my bodice!"

Count Dagur couldn't help but chuckle at the prima donna's words. He stood just outside Heather's dressing room with Francois blocking the entranceway. The young man was loyal, one could not deny that. IT amazed the Count that despite Heather's obvious displeasure for the man, he still willingly remained her lap dog.

Francois continued to glance back and forth between Dagur and Heather with unease. He didn't like it when this man came for visits. He didn't care that the man was rich, or that he was the reason both he and Heather had jobs at the Paris Opera House. He saw the way his lovely Heather looked at the man, and vice versa.

Heather sighed and realized it was time to resort to other necessary battle moves. "Francois," she said in a sweet manipulative voice. "Why do you worry? DO you think my virtue us in danger it I allow the Count into my dressing room?"

Francois bit his lips and shifted back and forth a little, glancing at the Count with slight distrust. Heather smiled and reached out to caress the tenor's face. "I admire your chivalry. You truly are my knight in shining armor." Her voice was dripping with fake sweetness, yet Francois was enamoured.

He was cracking. "I assure you I will be quite safe… And I will cry out if I am in need… but I will be perfectly fine. And knowing you are near warms my heart and fills me with such.." she leaned close and planted a soft meek kiss on the tenor's lips. "…Passion."

She had won. Francois melted away from the dressing room door an smiled bashfully at his lady love. She smiled back and winked at him, while she disappeared into the room, the Count merely smirking behind her. The second they had entered the dressing room, she slammed the door shut, locked it, and began to spit. "Eh! The stench of him is all over me. I'll have to burn this dress!"

The count continued to smirk, placing his hat on her dressing table. "He's quite attached to you, more than I ever see… and quite suspicious…"

Heather groaned. "Do not remind me! And to think… I have to kiss him in the opera we are performing!"

She squealed when she felt to powerful hands grab her by the shoulders and twirled her around. She found herself pressed to the Count's body, and she went limp the second she felt his hard frame mold to her own. "How will I be able to control myself then? Seeing you on stage with him…" one of his hands went up to her hair and began to pull the pins out, causing the black curls to fall across her shoulders. "… in his arms…" his hands moved to her skirts and he began to hike them up to her hips. "… kissing him…" his lips captured hers and she melted even more, returning the passionate kiss and clawing at his dress coat.

The Count pulled back immediately. "Careful!" he hissed, removing her hands and looking at the coat to make sure it wasn't damaged. "This was quite expensive, I'll have you know."

Heather pouted and folded her arms crossly as he carefully removed the coat from his body. "I don't seem to recall you ever feeling a need to be careful with my expensive gowns!"

Dagur grinned, and purposely placed his coat on top of a large white box that was sitting at the chair before her dressing table. Heather's eyes followed where his coat went, and she looked at him for confirmation. When he nodded, she squealed happily and tore at the box like a girl at Christmas- He had to carefully remove the coat again.

"OH! Monsieur, it is most beautiful…" she whispered, pulling the elegant gown from the box. It was pink, with blue ruffles and black lace. There was a billowy train and a very low neckline that glittered with black and pink sequins. Most people would look at such gown and find it atrocious, however the Count had long since learned that Heather's taste in fashion was just that.

"Now you can truly burn that gown," he chuckled, coming closer to place kisses on the back of Heather's neck while his expert hands began to undo the buttons on her present dress.

Heather whimpered at his touch and leaned back against him. "It has been far too long monsieur since out last encounter… I was beginning to think you had forgotten me…"

"You?" he said with mock horror. "Never…" while one hand continued to undo the buttons, the other climbed higher and began to sink beneath the bodice of her dress. She moaned when his lips tickled her ear as he nibbled the lobe slightly. "Now…I have a favor to ask of you…"

"Mmmmmmmmmm…a-a-a-anything…" she whimpered, leaning back and purposely pushing her lush bottom against him. He groaned at the movement, but years of experience had taught him self-control.

"Good girl…" he hissed, biting her neck briefly, while his other hand moved to lift up her skirts. "I want you to tell me…" her skirts were up to her thighs. "…Everything you can…" he pushed the stockings and garters down. "…About Astrid…"

Heather's eyes flew open and she pushed the Count's hands away before tearing herself away from his body. "WHAT?"

Dagur sighed and closed his eyes momentarily to prepare himself for the shrieks that were to follow.

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HER? SHE'S GARBAGE, SHE'S SLIME, SHE'S-"

"Be quiet!" The Count snapped. "Do you want all of Paris to hear you?"

The fire in Heather's eyes grew wilder. "BUCK PARIS! I DON'T CARE IF ALL OF FRANCE HEARS ME! ANSWER ME WHY YOU WANT TO KNOW!"

The Count stared back at Heather, eager to wrap his hands around the soprano's pretty neck and snap it in two. However, he knew the best way to handle situations like this was not to lose one's temper. And he too could play the same games that Heather played on Francois.

"My sweet, I am only interested in knowing what all is going on in my theater," he crooned, putting on his most charming smile and slowly walking towards her. He hoped the passion that filled his eyes would weaken her..

However, the Count realized it would take more coaxing, as Heather was having none of it. "I am not a fool, Dagur!" she snapped, using his first name. "You think I know nothing about your infamous reputation? You think I know nothing about the many chorus girls and dancers you've bedded? You think I don't know that one of the main reasons you patronize the Opera House is so you can be assured of a pretty young face, with a mouth wide and open and willing-"

* * *

**Authors note:** There is sex right after you finish this sentence, if you want to avoid it please go past the lines.

* * *

"That was BEFORE I met you!" Dagur lied, coming to her in two strides. "I will not deny my past, but the moment I saw you perform on stage and heard your voice, you alone are the only woman I think about, dream about…" his hand sneaked down to the hem of her skirts and began to lift them once again. "…and want to buck till the sun comes up…"

Heather melted slightly to his words, especially as she felt his hand move under the skirts and softly brush her thigh. Still, she tried to show some self-control. "W-w-why then do you care about her…" she whimpered, her lips going dry as she felt his hands inch closer.

Dagur grinned as he could tell he was winning this battle. "My dear, have you not being saying that Astrid has being annoying you lately?" His lips brushed against hers as his hands had their fun.

Heather moaned and melted even more, licking her lips and trembling beneath his touch. "T-t-that is true…"

"Yes, it is…and you're not happy…" Heather was gripping the dressing table and pressing against his body. "I only want to make you happy Heather…I only want to give you pleasure…" He could see from the expression on her face that she would tell him anything so long as he didn't stop.

She couldn't take it anymore. "S-s-she likes d-d-dragons…oooOOooOOoohhhh and jewels!" she shouted, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately, while he lifted her body with one arm, and the other cleared the dressing table before placing her down on top of it.

* * *

"Thank…you…my…dear…you…will…not…regret…it!"

Nor would he, he mused to himself. Already, he was imagining the pretty understudy as the one before him, But as he had learned, from the time his father had taken him to a brothel at the age of 14 to "make a man out of him", any woman could be easily bought at the right price. Sometimes it took money, sometimes jewels or other expensive gifts, sometimes even words of affection and love; but every woman had a price, and it only took Count Dagur little time to learn what it was, before luring a girl to his bed. Heather definitely suited his purposes; he knew she was once a star in Italy, and with the right publicity, he could make her a star in France and get more money into his pockets. And if that meant having to come every now and then and listen to her litany of complaints before finally moving onto "normal business", as he referred it, then so be it. Whatever it took for him to get what he wanted.

He smiled at his own reflection in the mirror. He continued to look at himself, thinking of all the wealth he was acquiring from Heather's so-called talents, thinking of his next escapade: bedding Astrid. She was young, full of city virtue; he loved breaking virgins in. But he had to admit, Astrid was hard to impress; she would always cleverly look for a excuse to leave when he was present, and none of his gifts seemed to be gaining any terrain. She always hid her thoughts behind a mask of cold indifference, but she would eventually surrender to him. She would be a most eager student, he grinned. Yes, he would soon seduce her to his bed, and gain much pleasure for himself from her. Heather was business, but Astrid would be his pleasure. And he loved mixing the two together. He thought all these things while he smiled at his own reflection.

* * *

Astrid brushed her hair softly, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She had the feeling something was watching her, but that was not possible, there was no place from where anyone could be spying on her. Her door was closed and locked shut to prevent Gobber from 'researching'; there were no windows open from where anyone could be peering in to see her when she got changed. She had to get dressed soon, but the feeling of dread wouldn't go away. Astrid reassured herself as she put her brush down.

"Okay, Astrid, calm down." She whispered to herself as she gained an air of confidence around herself. "What am I worrying so much about? It's not like there's some pervert hidden in some passageway spying at me!"

Muk chuckled at his blonde angel's words.

Unbetsknown to anyone, the mirror in Astrid's room was some sort of door into the secret passages of the Opera House. From his side he could clearly see into Astrid's room, but on the other side it looked like any other mirror.

He was deeply grateful to whoever had made this secret passage.

He had been watching her for a while now, since last night, actually, to get away from Voltaire's electrical attacks. After learning Snowdrop's whereabouts, he had wanted to literally storm outside and bring her back, but Nighthawk convinced him otherwise, instead sending Muk, Glump and One-eye to wait for the right time to snatch Snowdrop from the stable dragons. Muk had managed to sneak away from them, however, wanting to take a peek at his beloved Astrid. When Astrid lifted the skirts of her sleeping gown and lifted it up to take it off…

Muk stared at her with thin, raised ears as she took her sleeping gown off (but she still had her brassiere and underwear on). Those lovely curves, her beautiful legs, the blonde curls cascading from her head…

God in heaven, what a torture! Being to close to her, yet unable to lay a hand on her. He was _dying_ to touch her, to _feel _her…

In his entire life, Muk had come into contact with females before, but never a human. The females of the Goblin race were not very attractive, (in human terms, at least), but they were god in bed, they were! Yes, there were females back in _that_ place, but they were not as exploited since they were not as strong or sturdy as males were. However, Goblins needed comfort every now and then.

Muk used to think human males and females were identical, but after escaping, he was proven wrong when he and Glump encountered a young peasant girl looking for wild berries. He had been curious as to the body shape of women ever since.

But Astrid had perfection written in every inch of her body.

Muk let out a sad sigh. He died to run his hands against Astrid's beautiful, stunning curve unlike the rather abrupt body shapes of female goblins. He longed to feel her soft, pink skin contrasting the rough, sometimes even scaly skin of the goblins. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed that Astrid had already gotten dressed; she was wearing a beautiful sky blue gown with light yellow trimming, and trimmed pink flowers on the skirt. Her blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, unlike the long braid she usually had.

A great hand came from behind the Goblin and covered his mouth while a long arm took hold of his waist. Muk panicked momentarily, but soon recognized Glump's hold. Muk let out muffled protests as Glump dragged him away from the mirror passage. When they were in the middle of a dark corridor, Glump spoke. "Sorry for that, Muk, but you know One-Eye doesn't like to get an inch near humans, no matter how attractive they look."

One-Eye descended from the wooden rafts above. "Seriously, Muk, what did you see in that human?"

Muk angrily freed himself from Glump's grasp. "What was that for?! And why isn't Snowdrop with you?"

Glump gulped. "Well, we wanted to take her back when the other dragons were still sleeping, but when we got there they were already awake."

"Not only that, you know!" One-Eye snapped. "Snowdrop has a big mouth! She spilled the beans about us!"

Muk's heart stopped.

"Spilled the beans? What do you mean?"

"She's told them that we live here, and I don't like to say this, but Stormfly had no other choice to tell them as well. Hiccup wanted to take Snowdrop to examine her, but Stormfly intervened and took her to her box. That's when they figured that Stormfly knew something, and that's it!"

"I suppose we should tell Nighthawk about this." Glump concluded. "After all, Stormfly will take Snowdrop back, anyway, and surely one of the stable dragons will want to accompany her."

"Now that you mention it, we have to convince him not to shred Stormfly for divulging the secret."

Muk shook his head. "It wasn't her fault, in reality. We never told Snowdrop to keep secret about us living here, so he can't blame Stormfly nor Snowdrop at all."

… Or could he?

* * *

"So, let me guess this straight." Toothless was pacing around the stable, ignoring the awkward looks the rest of the workers were giving him. "They have been living here for four years, they are responsible for the missing food and props, and you never told us anything?" He sounded quite hurt as he gave Stormfly an accusing stare. "I thought we were friends!"

Stormfly was looking down in shame. "I'm so sorry, everyone, but I gave them my word that I would never say a word about them. I couldn't betray their trust.

Meatlug would have crossed her arms if they were long enough to reach for the other. "But you sure as hell betrayed _ours_!" Her pupils grew dilated. "But I kind of don't understand."

Barf sighed in frustration. "She knew those dragons were living here all the time."

·… And she did not trust us enough to tell us!" Belch finished.

"That's enough, all of you!" Hookfang snapped, and would have flared up if he hadn't learned to control his fire coat years ago. "She had no choice! A promise is a promise. She couldn't tell us even if she wanted to!"

Stormfly would have rolled her eyes, but preferred not to. She was thankful to Hookfang for defending her, but she didn't like others to think she needed bug, bad Hookfang to defend her honor when she could as well do it herself.

"Aunt Stormy, when will I go back?" Snowdrop asked innocently from the Deadly Nadder's feet. "I miss Volty and Glump."

Stormfly smiled as she gently nuzzled the white fury's head. "Don't worry, dearie. Once the humans are all hone, I will take you back."

"Say, Stormfly…" Toothless spoke, having calmed down a little. "Do you think you could take me with you? I'd like to meet those friends of yours."

Stormfly quickly got on the defensive. "No, I can't do that! Nighthawk will kill me if I do that!"

Hookfang gulped at the thought of that beast beheading his beloved Stormfly. "Is he that bad?"

"No! It's not that…" Stormfly looked away. "It's just that he has gone through so much, all of them have. They didn't precisely have fond experiences with humans, their trust has been taken over by their fear. And just to tell you… they escaped rom a carnival."

Meatlug tilted her head. "So? What if they know a few tricks?"

Suddenly, Stormfly jumped to her feet and flared her wings, startling every dragon present, including Snowdrop. "You don't get it! They're not that kind of dragons! They escaped from a _freak_ fair! They had members cut off, they were shipped mercilessly, and they were damaged psychologically as well!"

"What about the Goblins?" Hookfang inquired. "I heard Gobber speaking about them once. They originate from Scotland, Ireland and England mountain ranges! However did they get to France?"

"Not to mention they do not like urban areas, it's too noisy for their liking." Belch added.

"I'm afraid there's not much I can tell you about them. Muk and Glump arrived shortly before Nighthawk and the others, I never heard where they had come from. But judging by the whip marks on Muk's back, I can tell he and Glump escaped from a similar place."

"Please, Stormfly." Toothless pressed on. "I need to talk to them, I want to ask them a few questions, that's all."

"Hey, and since you're at it, you could describe us what kind of deformities they have." Barf and Belch chuckled simultaneously, but their laughter changed into yelps when Hookfang bumped their heads with his wings.

"Toothless, if I took you there, you would have to be very careful. They do not like when others stare at their…" Stormfly struggled to find an appropriate word. "… Unnatural traits. I learned it the hard way the first times I went down there."

Toothless nodded. "I understand the risk, and I'll accept it. Besides, I want to bid little Snowdrop good bye, in case we never get to see each other again."

"I don't think so!" Snowdrop replied, staring up at the older Night Fury. "I could ask Nitawk to let you all visit. I like you, Toothy."

All the dragons chuckled at Toothless' new nickname, even Toothless found it funny, but Stormfly said nothing. Would it be safe to take Toothless with her to take Snowdrop back to the underworld of the dragons'? Nighthawk would be angry, that was for sure, and One-Eye would have one of his 'panic attacks'. But on the other wing, Voltaire was much more friendly, he would surely understand and would try to reason with the rest. Still, she couldn't help but worry. But the Deadly Nader also knew Toothless was very determined when he was set on something, and he would surely follow her to find one of the secret passage ways if she told him no, anyway.

…

"… Very well."


	7. Discovery

A Place To Call Home

Chapter 7

There was an uproar about an hour later.

Fishlegs and Ruffnut ran over to Mildew's office and told him they had made a rather disturbing discovery; behind one of the walls backstage, when Antoinette asked Fishlegs to check if there were any mice behind the walls –she and the other dancers had been hearing strange sounds coming from within it-, he used a pole to knock against the wall in order to try and make the rodent sneak out through a hole. But much to everyone's shock and horror, the wall collapsed and tons of bones from animals long decayed fell out from a secret compartment, thought to have been sealed long ago. Rests of sheep, fish, fowl, and even what seemed to be rests of a cow were identified.

This discovery caused utter terror in every staff working at the Opera House, who now were sure not only that the specters roaming the place were real, but that they were of flesh and bone. When Count Dagur walked out of Heather's dressing room, the police were already there. When he asked what the police was doing there, Gobber explained the whole ordeal, which he took undoubtedly as a sign that the rumors were true. In fact, they opened a new file in the archives, labeled as _Non-identified Creatures_. Once Dagur saw the pile of bones, there was nothing he could say to counter it. However, he would never admit outloud that he was starting to think there were actually ghouls living in the Opera House. Instead, he opted to drag Mildew to the office to talk about it in private, with no interruptions.

"Do you believe me now?" Mildew was yelling at the top of his lungs as Dagur closed the door behind them. "Those bones are proof that Gobber's stories must be real! Who else would have placed all of those skeletons in that wall?!"

"Would you lower your voice?!" Dagur snapped. "Do you want everyone to hear you?! But I must admit," Dagur's tone changed from annoyance to suspicion as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Those bones are sure a disturbing discovery that no person in their sanity would do. Not that anyone knew, from what that Fishlegs guy said they had never seen anyone open up that wall, put rests in there and seal it up again."

"That's not all, Monsieur!" Mildew gulped, fidgeting with his tie. "The pranks on Mademoiselle Heather have been much more aggressive as of late. This morning we found a venomous snake among her dresses, we were lucky to find it before Mademoiselle Heather did or we would have never heard the end of it." Mildew started to sweat when the Count's gaze hardened up once more. "And many of the staff have reported to see strange creatures at night-"

"What?!" Dagur was taken off guard by that statement. "And why did you not tell me that, you incompetent!" He was supposed to know _everything_ that happened in the Opera House, and the manager had the dare to hide it from _him_!

Mildew stepped back in fear. "Well, Monsieur, since you have never believed in such superstitious things, I assumed it would not be of your interest."

"Mildew, _everything_ that happens in _my_ Opera House _is_ of my interest, no matter if it's gossip, superstition or rumors. If one of the dancers twists her knee during a rehearsal, you _tell_ me." Dagur took one menacing step towards the old man. "If a zeppelin falls on top of the roof of my Opera House, you _tell_ me." The Count's usually calm and refined exterior was giving in to his true, apparent bestial nature. "If a goddamned dragon rampages against a giant octopus on stage, you _TELL_ ME! Now if you don't tell me right now what has been happening in my Opera House, I'll send you to the streets with one snap of my fingers!"

Mildew gulped, knowing the Count was capable of fulfilling such threat. Not only that, he would most likely make sure every other Opera House in Europe would never hire him as well. Disobeying the Count's orders was playing with fire. With a sigh of both resignation and terror, Mildew spoke. "The chorus girls and the dancers reported that they saw a glimpse of a large creature in the upper rafts last week. Gobber said that he had woken up two months ago with black hairs not belonging to any of the girls were all over his blanket. When he sent them to la lab for investigation, they told them the hairs were not…" Mildew gulped. "… human. They compared the hair with many non-human beings, and the only match they found was with Goblin hair."

"Goblin hair?" Dagur scoffed. "That's all? All of this scandal just because of miners' tales?"

But… maybe he could use the situation to his advantage. After all, if there were actual Goblins in the Opera House, and if he managed to get rid of them, he would be seen as a hero by the staff, and Mademoiselle Astrid would be so impressed she would finally fall for his charms. Not only that, but he had heard that mining companies were starting to capture Goblins, or offered a high price for them to have workers for their mines. The reason was not very hard to understand; while human miners could easily be killed by collapses or falling rocks, Goblins were already accustomed to the rough environment that were the mines, not to mention they could find their way through those dark tunnels with a terrifying easiness. Maybe one of those mining companies would buy the Goblins for a reasonable price.

It would be killing two birds with one stone.

"Well, on the other hand, we could benefit from these said Goblins if we play our cards right." Dagur finally spoke. "First of all, we should gather enough evidence that there are Goblins at the Opera House, then we'll do a press conference to reassure the people. But for now, dear Mildew." Dagur mockingly patted Mildew's shoulder. "Keep your ears open for any kind of strange incidents like those."

While Dagur and Mildew discussed their 'business', Astrid's curiosity got the better of her, and she walked out of her dressing room to take a look at the pile of bones. The police officers were interrogating the stagehands in case they had seen something off in the past days, but they had left yellow tape to prevent anyone from trespassing and destroying the evidence. Who could have done such a thing without being seen? Maybe this truly meant that the rumors about the roaming creatures were… true.

"Hey, look at this!"

Astrid rolled her eyes when she recognized Snotlout's voice. She twirled her head around and spotted the dim-witted boy (as she always put it) looking around for any sign of the officers, then grabbing one of the skulls and fitting his hands into it. Snotlout then turned around towards a group of stagehands, Fishlegs among them. "Look at me! I'm a big, bad Goblin and I'm going to gobble animals up!" he shook his hands in a manner playing with the skulls like a puppeteer.

The stagehands laughed by the joke, but Fishlegs commented. "I don't think you should mess with the dead's rests."

"Please! They were just dumb animals! What are they going to do? Come from beyond the grave to haunt me?" Snotlout replied with a mocking laugh.

Hiccup left the basket of fish on the floor, stomped towards his cousin and snatched the skulls from his hands to toss them back into the pile. "Well, if you leave your fingerprints on the evidence, the police will come beyond the grave to arrest you."

Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Oh, and there we go again with the 'that's not the right thing to do' speech, courtesy from Hiccup."

Astrid smirked. She could have some fun with this.

"So, do you really think there are creatures in here?" she asked with all the naturality in the world as she approached the group.

Immediately, the stagehands minus Fishlegs skipped away. When Astrid had that look on her eyes, she was going to give someone a verbal joke. While she was usually friendly and sweet with those near her, for some reason Snotlout seemed to be the exception to the rule. Her relationship with Hiccup was neither too good or two bad, but the two sides' often fought for territory', as he put it.

"Me? Ha! A brilliant person such as I would never believe fairytales like that!" Snotlout stuck out his chest in an attempt to impress Astrid. "Only a fool would believe in such nonsense."

"Then why when you went to fetch something Hiccup asked you to get you put on one of the armors meant for medieval scenes and took a broom to protect yourself from said beings?"

Hiccup chuckled when Snotlout turned around to face Fishlegs and threw a silent tantrum at the stagehand, who lifted his arms defensively in case Snotlout attempted to do something.

"Well, Mademoiselle, I can't say I don't believe in fairies and those things. I've had encounters with a few in my childhood."

Astrid raised an eyebrow, her air of indifference still present. "You have?"

"Well, it's not that I didn't have any friends back then… Well, I didn't have human friends, but I had my father's dragons. They were so much better than a girl's company." Hiccup panicked when he noticed Astrid's gaze firing up. "Not that dragons are better than women! It's just I' not accustomed to being around them and-" Hiccup angrily smacked his forehead in frustration.

"Yes, I can see that clearly. I think being around dragons has started to affect your brain."

"Hey!" Hiccup took his hands to his hips; while he knew his place in the Opera House, that wouldn't mean he would withstand verbal taunting. "Dragons are as good companions as people!"

"As if. I'd like to see a dragon performing in an opera!"

"There are actual animals on stage in some performances, so you can't tell me dragons can't appear."

Astrid crossed her arms and smirked. "Tell you what. If you can get one of _your_ dragons to perform in an Opera, I'll let you and whomever you want to bring watch the performance in one of the boxes with the best champagne for _free."_

Snotlout pushed Hiccup abruptly aside, "The best champagne?"

Fishlegs joined in. "For free?"

"Well, it'd have to be before the next performance, if you have a talented dragon at all." Saying this, Astrid twirled around with a taunting grin on her lips, her blue dress dripping the ground slightly. Snotlout immediately grabbed Hiccup by the arm and lifted him up.

"What are you doing on the ground taking a nap?! We have to teach that Night Fury of yours to make some tricks!"

* * *

The clang of the secret door closing behind them sounded like an iron gate that was locking them in. Toothless was silent for a moment, observing the never-ending darkness that stood before them. Snowdrop had wanted to return home much earlier, and so she asked Hookfang, Meatlug and Barf and Belch to block out the secret passage and make sure they were not seen while going through. While their night vision was flawless, they kept Snowdrop close, in case she tried to sneak away once more.

Toothless was starting to have second thoughts about going down there, and wondered how Stormfly had managed to go through those passages without any trace of fear. Maybe she had grown accustomed to it; she said she has known of these dragons since four years ago, when she was in the equivalent of a young teen. The Night Fury took another deep breath, and followed Stormfly into the dark unknown.

Glump's ears twitched when he heard a distant, yet familiar sound. "She's here!" Glump cried out happily. His little sister was back, even though he knew Stormfly was surely bringing any of the other dragons down with her, it was Snowdrop he was eager to see.

Muk, who had fallen asleep not too long ago, twitched his ears in irritation at his friend's enthusiastic voice and rubbed his eyes. "She's back, Muk!" Glump exclaimed, grasping the smaller Goblin and twirling him around. "She's back home!"

Muk squealed when he felt his feet lift off the ground. "Glump! Put me down at once!" he cried, preferring to be dropped than crushed to death by the exuberant Goblin. He blushed and then immediately placed his friend back on the ground, but his grin never disappeared. Muk straightened himself. "I know you're happy about Snowdrop, but you're acting like a child, for goodness sake!"

Glump found himself grinning again. "Come on, Muk! Why do you have to be such a party pooper?"

Muk sighed, regretting to have taken Glump along with him and One-Eye in the first place, since now he wasn't hearing the end of it. "Would you stop? Right now we have more important things to-"

"WHAT?!" he shouted, his smile disappearing. "What could be more important than Snowdrop?"

Muk stared up at him, his brow furrowed, his thin but bushy black eyebrows twisted into a frown. It was not he did not care for Snowdrop, but it was Nighthawk he was worried about. How would he take it if Stormfly brought anyone with her?

"Nighthawk." He said, feeling his feet carrying him away from the cavern they had been occupying. Glump understood, his previously excited and even goofy behavior becoming grim. Muk was glad he was so happy –ever since he was forced to… abandon Helfer… he was never truly happy until they came to the Opera House, and he met Snowdrop- but his blood ran cold at the thought of the foreign dragon becoming a victim of Nighthawk's rage. "Come, Glump." He whispered. "Let's go."

In a further cavern, Silk sat by candlelight writing –yes, he could write as well- on music sheets of paper with a black pen in his mouth. One-eye was sitting a few feet away, sharpening his left claws on an old piece of leather. Now and then he would glance at the Changewing, rolling his eyes as he watched Silk ignore him completely.

"How much time have you been working on that bloody thing?" One-eye asked irritably. Silk made no comment. "Waste of time." One-eye grunted.

Without lifting his head, Silk muttered. "What you call a waste of time is actually one of the most refined an exceptional forms of art ever created."

One-Eye cast Silk an incredulous glare. "What's wrong with you?"

"You mean besides the countless times you mock me?" Silk muttered, without looking up.

"When have you seen a dragon writing an opera? Are you nuts?"

"Have I ever told you something like that about one of your hobbies?"

"That's because _my_ hobbies are normal for a dragon!" One-Eye replied sharply. "How did you even learn to write? I know you learned to read, but writing?!"

Silk sensed the Monstrous Nightmare was very tense. "You're still nervous about Stormfly, aren't you? You're afraid that she'll bring someone besides Snowdrop down."

One-Eye rolled his eyes and rose up, throwing his wings up in frustration. "Tell me, Silk, did you like the carnival? Did you like performing for those clops and being called names? Because I know I didn't! And I'm never going back there!"

Silk sighed. "Those dragons don't even know about the carnival."

"Then they know nothing about the world-"

"Nighthawk!"

The word was soft and distant, but it rang outloud and clear and both were silenced immediately upon hearing it.

"She's already here." One-Eye exclaimed, whirling his head towards the direction he head heard Stormfly's voice.

Silence, and then another call, this time much more lower. "Nitawk!" That was surely Snowdrop.

"She brought her back, and it doesn't sound like she brought anyone else."

One-Eye sighed in relief. "Thank heaven! I was freaking out that she would bring someone who would rat us out."

However, after a few seconds, another voice, unfamiliar this time, called out. "Excuse me! Is anyone in here?"

That was the straw.

"TOOTHLESS!" One-Eye exclaimed, his only eye widening in horror. "She did bring him?!"

"Quiet!" Silk ordered. Both he and One-eye moved to a crack in the cavern wall, peering out to see if the voices were coming from that direction.

"Yup, she brought Toothless as well as Snowdrop." Silk whispered.

"I THINK THAT IS PRETTY OBVIOUS!" One-Eye exploded. "WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS WHY IN HELL DID SHE BRING HIM!"

Silk panicked and closed One-Eye's mouth shut. "Do you want all of Paris to hear you of what?!" He released the Monstrous Nightmare's snout.

"No… I… I'm not going back there… I'm never going back there!" One-Eye mumbled, stepping back frantically and stumbling.

"Get a hold of yourself!"

But it was no use. Despite Silk's attempt to calm him, One-Eye rose to his feet and immediately took off down a dark passage wailing for Nighthawk. Dam!

Stormfly heard One-Eye and Silk's argument, and One-Eye's outburst. She quickly looked back at Toothless. "Be careful, One-Eye is sure to bring Nighthawk, and he is not fond of outsiders." Toothless felt a shiver go down his spine.

"SNOWDROP!" The trio twirled around to the voice, and Toothless was astounded to find a Skrill standing in the way from one of the underground passages, his orange eyes set on him, his pupils almost invisible. But what frightened Toothless the most was the large burn-like scar on the left side of the Skrill's face.

Voltaire couldn't believe what he was seeing. Stormfly had brought Toothless with her, how could she? They trusted her, and this is how she repaid them? By giving them away? However, he was brought out of his thoughts when a little speck of white started rushing towards him.

"Volty!" Snowdrop cried out in happiness.

"SNOWDROP!"

Toothless momentarily panicked when the Skrill lunged at the white fury, but before he could intervene Stormfly held out a wing to stop him, then motioned him to look closely. Voltaire nuzzled at Snowdrop's head, a few tears forming in his eyes, like he was a father being reunited with his long-lost child.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, young drady!" Voltaire cried out in joy as he rubbed his nose against Snowdrop's cheek.

"It was scary, Volty!" Snowdrop replied while nuzzling against the Skrill's chest. "But Toothless saved me and let me sleep with him!"

Voltaire lifted up his gaze to stare at the Night Fury. "He did?"

"Yay! He and the others are really nice!"

"Just to tell you, Stormfly had nothing to do with this. She did not reveal the secret, Snowdrop mentioned she lived in here, and when we asked her what she meant with that, she said others were living with her as well."

Voltaire said nothing for a while. He glanced at Snowdrop, then at Stormfly, and finally at Toothless. Maybe he was telling the truth, it made much more sense; they never told Snowdrop that she was not to tell anyone they were living underneath the Opera House, they were partly to blame as well.

Suddenly, Toothless was pinned to the ground by a blur of grayish purple, and pushing Stormfly aside. The Night Fury struggled to get free, but his attacker was much bigger and stronger than him. Toothless looked up, and met the ire-filled murderous stare of a Poisonous Whiptail. Toothless never thought he would never see one, these dragons were only found in Persia, and in a few places of the New World, or so he had heard.

But they were famous for being aggressive and territorial.

Nighthawk was hissing menacingly, his spines all bristled up, baring his venomous teeth, looking almost like the devil himself. He held Toothless down with his flesh leg, his wooden paw giving him a foothold. Toothless realized this Poisonous Whiptail lacked his right leg, instead having a wooden peg as a leg. He was completely frozen in fear; he had never been pinned to the ground so easily like this. Even Hookfang had trouble against him, but then again, Poisonous Whiptails were famous not only for their venom and aggressive behavior, but for their physical prowess as well. Just then, the rest of the catacomb's inhabitants rushed to the scene as soon as they heard the scuffling.

"Nighthawk, wait a second!" Voltaire called out for him.

"Kill him!" One-Eye snapped.

Shack snarled at the Monstrous Nightmare. "Shut the hell up, don't you see Snowdrop is here!"

"Who will you bet on?" Muk inquired.

"MUK!" Glump exclaimed in indignation.

"Nighthawk, do not go over the edge!" Silk cried out in fear fir the Night Fury's life.

"Nitawk, don't hurt Toothy!" Snowdrop wailed, but Voltaire prevented her from going any closer.

Stormfly was frozen in place, staring at the scene. Toothless was pinned to the ground, Nighthawk was on top of him, ready to kill him if he wanted to. Nighthawk arched up his neck and raised his neck, his fangs dripping with poison as he opened his mouth wide.

No.

The Serpent Bite.

Toothless closed his eyes shut, getting ready for the blow.

Nighthawk brought his fangs down.


	8. Stories

A Place to Call Home

Chapter 8- Stories

**This chapter will center entirely in the dragons underground, and I will explain their background. The next chapter will be centered about the humans.**

* * *

Toothless expected the killing blow, but it never came.

When he opened his eyes once more to see what had happened with the upcoming bite that would have finished him off, but he found the fangs drenched in poison a few inches away from his face, giving him insight into the Poisonous Whiptail's throat. Nighthawk stopped his bite in mid-air when he heard Snowdrop plead to him not to kill the Night Fury. If she asked him not to harm Toothless, then he must have befriended in the short time she spent above the catacombs.

However, soon he panicked, and he swiftly rushed to a plant pod on one side of the cavern to dig his fangs into its trunk. Toothless stared at him like he had gone insane, but he retracted himself from that thought when he saw the plant's leaves change from the brightest green to the darkest black while breaking off the tips of the branches. The trunk followed suit, withering and changing to a dull dark brown within seconds.

It took one single minute for the plant to completely wither away.

Shack pretended to be sobbing as he spoke. "I'm going to miss that plant."

Toothless gulped at the thought that it could have been him who withered away instead of the small plant. Finally, he gathered the courage to speak. "What… was that for?" Toothless whispered, with a hint of fear.

His terror began again when Nighthawk turned to look at him; the hostility was not gone completely, but he had apparently cooled down to some degree. "My apologies." His voice was cold like frosted glass. "If I hadn't discharged my venom into that plant, I would be on the ground agonizing."

Toothless tilted his head in an almost hatchling-like way. "Excuse me?"

As always, Silk couldn't help but instinctively answering the question. "It's the catch of having the most powerful venom and poisonous bite in the whole dragon world. Once Poisonous Whiptails open their poison glands to drench their teeth, they have two minutes to release it, or they poison themselves." He explained, carefully approaching the Night Fury and sniffing him warily. "Hey, you stink of dirty hay."

Toothless was astonished to see the Changewing lacked a wing, and his _fake_ tail was seemingly sewn into his rear. But he remembered Stormfly's words, they did not like when people kept staring at their deformities, so the Night Fury opted to take his eyes off Silk quickly to take a look at the other dragons, for a few seconds at least. A Monstrous Nightmare with a peg and a handkerchief wrapped around his left eye, an unusually big Terrible Terror with blue and red eye, two Goblins, one skinny with black hair, tan brown skin and grayish lime green long pants and the other much bigger and brawnier with dark orange skin, brown hair and dark olive green pants.

One-Eye was getting more nervous every second the Night Fury spent there. "Nighthawk! Why didn't you kill him?!"

Stormfly hissed at him. "Would you knock if off, One-Eye?"

One-Eye glared back at her and let out a roar. "YOU SHUT UP! YOU BROUGHT HIM HERE WHEN YOU PROMISED YOU WOLD NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT US, LIAR!"

"Shut it, One-Eye! Do not speak to Stormfly that way!" Voltaire got in the way between the Monstrous Nightmare and the Deadly Nadder before One-Eye could lunge at her, his scales sparking with electricity. "She is not to blame for this!"

"Yeah, One-Eye, quit it." Muk added, crossing his arms. "Besides, what did you expect to happen when we didn't even tell Snowdrop that she was not to speak about us?"

Shack scoffed in indignation. "So, you mean to say it is _our_ fault."

"Technically, yes."

Toothless tried to intervene, but Nighthawk held out a wing to stop him while shaking his head at him. But the Night Fury grew worried when the fighting started escalating. Nighthawk knew they were just panicking because of Toothless, however; it was nothing grave. One-eye was trading words with Voltaire, Muk was growling at Shack, Silk and Stormfly had somehow ended up fighting with each other. The only dragons not bickering were himself, Toothless, and Snowdrop, who had gone to Glump's side and clung to his leg, the Goblin picked her up and held her against him when the yelling got louder

"We should have never trusted her in the first place!"

"If you want to blame someone, blame Voltaire! He's the one in charge of Snowdrop's upbringing!"

"Wha-?! Oh, yeah! Blame me for everything! But where did she learn that kind of behavior!"

"Since when do you care about intruders that much, bat-ears!"

"Say that again! I dare you!"

Finally, One-Eye's roar out spoke the others' arguing. "I'M NOT GOING BACK TO THE CARNIVAL!"

Toothless's ears perked up. So it was true, they truly were from the carnival. Before he could ask them, however, he noticed the dragons out of sudden went silent and grim; One-eye quickly brought his claws to his snout in horror as soon as he had finished the last word. Even Stormfly's cold exterior disappeared and gave place to a fearful expression; eight pairs of anxiety-filled eyes were set on both him and Nighthawk, making Toothless shudder nervously.

"What's wrong?" he blurted out.

"Toothless…" Stormfly whispered almost inaudibly. "… Step away from Nighthawk right now…"

"Why?" Toothless glanced at the Poisonous Whiptail to check what she was talking about, but the expression on his face was… how to explain it, blank. Nighthawk was staring frontwards, his eyes open wide but his pupils so tiny they were almost invisible. He didn't blink once. "What's wrong with him?"

"It's happening again." Muk gulped.

"What?"

"Nighthawk has a little…" Silk looked down. "… problem with the word 'Carnival', we can't speak that word in front of him, or he… goes into a rampage."

Toothless felt a shiver run down his spine at "Rampage?"

"An emotional rampage." Voltaire added. "Nighthawk lived atrocious things at the Carnival, as well as us. At the very mention of the word, Nighthawk paralyzes for few minutes."

"And if you don't get away from him immediately, you'll regret it." Muk spoke up, shivering as the thought. "Believe me, Glump and I learned it the hard way when we first met."

One-Eye's eye widened. "He's blinked."

Toothless jumped away from Nighthawk, his pupils gone to slits. Suddenly, dark crimson red slowly oozed from the outer edges of the Poisonous Whiptail's eyes, until it completely choked out the lime-green.

Glump started unfastening his thick belt after letting Snowdrop back on the ground.

Almost immediately, Nighthawk's lips curled into a snarl. Before Toothless could react, Nighthawk swung his good paw towards him, just barely missing his shoulder with his sharp, dark claws.

Toothless jumped back, frightened. "Get back!" Stormfly cried, quickly rushing towards Toothless and pushing him away abruptly. "He's dangerous in that state!"

Nighthawk was growling viciously like a wild animal. His now-red eyes darted back and forth as foam formed on his lips, covering his gums. Then he spotted Shack. The Terrible Terror, realizing Nighthawk would not think reasonably in that state, lunged at him. Nighthawk, however, smacked him aside with his massive tail. He crashed into a wall, and slowly slid down.

"Shack!" Silk cried out. He leapt and stood protectively in front of the much smaller dragon. When Nighthawk walked too close, the Changewing snapped his teeth as a warning and swiped at him, scratching his nose. Snowdrop let out a scream of fright. Nighthawk stumbled backwards, growling in pain. Silk turned to Shack, who was smiling.

"My hero." He laid his head down onto his paws.

"No! Shack, no!" Silk cried in desperation. "Y-You can't die!"

"Gotcha!" Shack exclaimed laughing. "You fell for it!"

Silk scowled in indignation. "That was not funny! You could have really died!"

As they argued, Nighthawk's eyes targeted Snowdrop, who by then had gone into a corner to try and hide from his wrath. Voltaire quickly took notice, and he dashed in front of Snowdrop protectively, letting the electricity long-stored in his body unleash around him, just enough so that Nighthawk wouldn't come any closer to her. All the while, he wrapped his tail around Snowdrop protectively, and snarled at the Poisonous Whiptail.

Nighthawk panicked when he felt arms wrapping around his neck. Muk struggled to maintain himself on top of Nighthawk, who began to jump and thrash around violently like a wild horse attempting to throw a cowboy off its back. The Goblin's arms started to ache, and he felt himself sliding off.

"One-Eye!" he yelled. "Some help here!"

One-Eye lunged at Nighthawk, but in his trashing the Poisonous Whiptail smacked him in the snout, sending him a few steps back and making the handkerchief around his left eye slid off. The sight made Toothless step back in fear, and he nearly curled up into a ball and hide beneath his own wings to avoid seeing such a hideous wound.

With a loud roar, Nighthawk sent Muk flying against the wall with great force; Muk screamed with pain as he felt his right foot dislocate. He felt like it had been crushed by a giant rock, but his sturdy head didn't let him slip unto unconsciousness.

"MUK!" Glump tried to rush towards his wounded friend, but Nighthawk targeted him next. But One-eye lunged at him for a second time, only this time he caught Nighthawk by surprise and the two rolled around the floor, snapping at each other, with One-Eye barely avoiding Nighthawk's teeth. Stormfly and Voltaire went to the Monstrous Nightmare's aid, holding him down facing downwards. Stormfly pressed her foot against his head, Voltaire both of his talons on his tail, and One-Eye stepped into his back, pinning his wings and body to the ground. Nighthawk violently tried to shake them off, but he was no match for three heavy dragons, especially a Monstrous Nightmare.

"Glump, now!" Voltaire roared.

The Goblin rushed towards Nighthawk's head, belt in hand, and barely avoided a snap from him. Quickly, he wrapped his thick belt around Nighthawk's snout and fastened it to prevent him from biting anyone. Nighthawk was now letting out muffled snarls, growls and roars as he kept struggling against his captors. By then, Snowdrop was sobbing uncontrollably, this time against Muk.

"What do we do?!" Toothless snapped. "How can I help?!"

"Take Muk away!" Glump snapped, struggling to keep the belt in place around Nighthawk's snout. "Snowdrop too, since you're on it!"

Nodding, Toothless quickly towards the fallen Goblin- who was still clenching his teeth in pain- and gently pushed him into his back. "Over here!" Shack called out for the Night Fury, motioning him to follow him through a tunnel. Silk was holding Snowdrop in his mouth gently as he rushed into the tunnel, followed by Shack, and soon by the Night Fury.

* * *

It seemed like hours.

Snowdrop had calmed down, but Muk was in no good shape. His foot was dislocated, they needed to put it back in place, but they didn't know how to do it. Silk and Shack were worried about Nighthawk, it had been so long ever since he went feral. Four years ago, to be exact. Muk had been a victim of it when he mentioned 'Carnival' in front of Nighthawk for the first time, but that time he hadn't been hurt. Right then, Snowdrop was speaking in a rather-excited manner with Toothless. The Goblin himself said nothing since they had taken him to the cavern, not even one of complaint.

"So you like the Hunchback of Notre Dame?" he inquired. "Oh yes! I recall you told me you wanted me to narrate it before you went to sleep." He looked at Snowdrop with a warm smile and wondered how on earth could she remain such a pure and innocent creature after living at the Carnival.

Snowdrop plopped herself next to Muk, who was sitting on a blanket on the cavern floor. "Have you heard about it?" she asked, stuttering from her excitement.

Toothless smiled at her. "I confess I have never heard it."

"It's wonderful!" she exclaimed. "There's a hunchback bell ringer, he lives in the bell tower high above Paris… and a beautiful gypsy girl, she falls in love with him!"

Toothless's smile faded somewhat. While he had never heard the actual sorry, he had a feeling that was not how the story went. Truth to be, Hiccup once commented the hunchback died an Esmeralda fell in love with a handsome man. However, he also had a feeling Voltaire had 'altered' certain parts of the story for her. "It sounds lovely." Toothless whispered, feeling that he would enjoy Snowdrop's version much more than that Hugo guy's. "Perhaps one day you can tell it to me?"

Snowdrop blushed. "I… I am not good remembering long stories," she confessed, looking down at her paws. "But Silk is teaching me how to read!"

Toothless looked over his shoulder at the Changewing, who was sitting on a rock, with a small worn leather-bound book in his claws. "Silk reads a lot," Snowdrop explained. "He was taught by a g-gy…"

"Gypsy girl," Silk finished. Toothless's look of surprise gave him cause to smile. "There was a girl in the carnival who saw me not as a mindless beast, but a living being with brain and heart." He explained. "She snuck to my cage and read to me, and eventually I learned by looking at the words in her books and learning to identify them by simply looking at them."

Toothless perked up his ears at the revelation. "Just like Hiccup does." He whispered.

Silk's smile faded slightly. "Too bad by then my…" he struggled to say the word. "P-p- parents were not there. My father was a disfigured Changewing and my mother a hunchbacked Zippleback. But when I turned one year old, they were sold and I never heard from them again."

Toothless sympathized with the Changewing, he himself had no memories of his parents. "How did you come to be here?"

"We were in the carnival!" Snowdrop exclaimed. "But Nitawk, he-"

"Snowdrop!" Shack hissed, quickly quieting the hatchling, who bit her lip, realizing she was telling too much. Toothless had paled at Snowdrop's first words; a carnival. Had they… were they all on display? A surge of anger shot through him as he imagined poor Snowdrop with her sweet nature being forced to show off her glimmering white scales for the wealthy upper classes, and Silk with all his great intelligence, being reduced to less than an animal for the viewing pleasure of others. Truly… they were not the freaks of this world.

"Still here, I see." Came a low grumble from the shadows. "Toothless glanced up to see One-Eye emerge from the darkness, and even though his had his the cloth back around his missing eye, he felt a cold chill run down his spine. Of all the dragons, he was the one that still frightened him. Voltaire, Silk, Shack, Glump, Snowdrop had shown nothing but friendliness to him. Muk was nice, he could tell, if Snowdrop felt so comfortable around him, but One-Eye… One-Eye wanted nothing to do with him, and he was making it extremely plain.

"And here we go again." Muk finally spoke, rolling his eyes at the Monstrous Nightmare's harsh antics. He had asked Toothless to take him to the northwest cavern, the place the Night Fury soon learned was where he and Glump slept. The cavern had plush English rugs that aligned its floors, and pieces of beautiful cloth that hung from its walls. In the center of the room, there was a small fire pit with a kettle boiling over a healthy fire. There were two beds, each different as black and white. Glump's bed was a boat, with all the seats removed, replaced by blankets and pillows. Muk's bed was a hammock of deep green cloth that hung between two tall skinny boulders.

Out of all the dragons, One-Eye still caused Toothless's blood to run cold. Unlike the others, One-Eye's deformity was not one he was born with. Toothless flinched when he remembered the hideous gash he had seen when One-Eye's eye patch had fallen off, imagining the pain he must feel. Why would anyone do anything like that to oneself? He would never understand… and he could not see himself having the courage to ask One-Eye why.

Also, the peg on his leg was not like Nighthawk's. One-Eye's right leg was gone… replaced with a thick piece of wood that looked as if someone long ago had shoved it into his skin. Indeed, skin from his left seemed to be growing along the edges of the wood; he had to look away for feat that he would be sick.

One-Eye snorted in disgust to Muk's comment. "Isn't it time that he scrams back to where he came from?" he asked Shack.

"We have to wait until nightfall."

One-Eye paled at Shack's sneering tone. "WHAT!"

"What happened with Nighthawk?" Muk inquired, changing the subject.

"He is fine, Stormfly managed to knock him out with one of her spines pinching in one of his nerves." One-Eye looked at Toothless with coldness and growled.

Toothless flinched, which was the exact reaction he was seeking. He couldn't help but chuckle evilly. Shack however send One-Eye a look full of warning, to which the Monstrous Nightmare with the wood leg swore, before stalking off to a corner of the room and collapsing.

"Don't mind One-Eye," Silk said to Toothless just loud enough that One-Eye could hear. "He's always in that mood, that's his true deformity."

"At least I don't make absolute rubbish!" One-Eye hissed from the dark corner.

"My music is not rubbish!" Silk snapped. "How dare you-"

"I see that hatchling behavior is rampant this evening," Voltaire grumbled as he entered the cavern. Silk sent One-Eye one more angry look before turning away. One-Eye simply grinned to himself before placing his head upon the cold floor.

"How's Nighthawk?" Shack asked, lowering himself down to the cavern floor.

"Much better, although I had to drag him all the way to his cavern." He groaned, sitting himself down on the edge of Muk's bed. "That foot doesn't look too good, Muk."

Muk rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me! It's killing me!"

"Where is Stormfly?" Toothless inquired.

Voltaire sighed. "She and Glump are looking after Nighthawk while he wakes up. By then, he must have calmed out of his feral estate." The Skrill looked at the other dragons. "One-Eye! Silk! Shack! I will be in need of some assistance from you," Voltaire commanded. One-Eye grumbled his protest to which Voltaire immediately ignored. "Stormfly hurt her leg while holding Nighthawk's claws, and Glump got a nasty scratch on his arm. Would you mind checking up on them?

One-Eye said nothing; he simply pushed past the Skrill out of the cavern entrance. Toothless gulped as he watched the Monstrous Nightmare stalk out. True, he found him frightening, even more so than Hookfang. "I didn't mean to cause so much trouble…" he whispered.

"Nonsense, "Shack muttered. "One-Eye is bent on making everyone's lives miserable when he's unhappy… give him time and he'll come around… he's really a good dragon."

Silk and Shack left out of the cavern. Snowdrop followed suit, wanting to see if Aunt Stormy was not badly hurt. One-Eye, who had appeared to have stalked off, was truly waiting for them outside the cavern, and his voice filled with complaints when he saw them emerge.

Toothless watched as his new friends left him, Muk and Voltaire behind in the small cavern. "Can I get you anything?" Voltaire asked. "Some fish, perhaps? I could boil some over the fire for you, it would be no trouble."

Toothless smiled at Voltaire's offer. "You're very kind, but I am fine."

Muk sighed. "Sorry you had to se Nighthawk in that… estate."

"I will not deny that… He looked like a… a…"

"A monster?"

Toothless pressed his ears against his skill and looked down at his paws. "I'm sorry, I-"

Muk clucked his tongue. "Nothing to apologize, he does act like a beast when he enters the feral estate. And his race is known for being aggressive, but he would never to so far as to kill unless it's completely necessary."

"I heard you wish to know how we came here?" Voltaire asked, his eyes glowing with understanding. "I'm a rather old dragon, I know a curious face when I see one."

Toothless blushed deeply. "It's just… well, Snowdrop started to tell me something about a carnival… but Shack quickly shushed her."

"Ahh yes," Voltaire sighed, before waving his wing at Toothless to come closer. He immediately obeyed. "Well… what Snowdrop was going to tell you was true… there was a carnival… and that's how we all knew each other.

Muk closed his eyes and tried to pretend to be asleep, but to no avail.

Toothless looked down at his paws, which were digging into the ground. "Was it… a freak show?" he whispered, not caring for the word at all.

Voltaire nodded his head. "I am from Russia, but since I was born with a deformity on the side of my face, as you can see," he pointed at the burned half of his face. "The Russians could not have such a dragon in their cavalry, and so they gave me away to the Carnival. When Snowdrop was brought, they left her egg in my cage because my species was the closest to her." He smiles softly at the memory. "Snowdrop is very much like a daughter to me," he whispered.

Toothless smiled at Voltaire's words, but felt his anger kindle at the people who had treated Voltaire and the others like animals. "Nighthawk was not born like that, as I'm sure you could guess. No, he was their first 'freak' put on display. They did that to his body… I remember hearing his cries of anguish when they cut off two of his legs and replaced them with wooden pegs. He was the star attraction; they got when a Persian caravan passed by them. He was in their caravan, and they were looking for a way to make some money, so for a hefty price they traded him to the carnival… in exchange of Silk's parents." He shuddered as the memories flooded him. "One-Eye was much worse than that. He had an one year old when they bought him, but since he had no actual deformations, they gorged his eye out with a spoon and acid, and he was so ashamed of his aspect that he started wearing the cloth around his missing eye. But even after they mutilated his face, they were still not satisfied. So they burn his paw of his leg-"

Toothless gasped. "They burnt his talon off him?"

Voltaire sadly nodded his head. "Yes… and before the wound had time to heal, they rammed that horrid wood into his flesh…" he whispered. "To this day, I can still remember the screams… and the blood, of God in heaven, there was so much blood."

Toothless felt his stomach churn at the thought. All his thoughts towards One-Eye had now changed; he could completely understand why he disliked him and he didn't blame him. He represented the world that had turned his body into a perversion. No, he did not blame him for his suspicions in regards to him at all.

"Silk has already told you about his parents, hasn't he?"

Toothless nodded.

"He was born physically perfect, and so they _cut_ _off_ all of his left wing. But that was not enough for them, no sir. Since Silk had the ability to camouflage, they cut off his tail and sewn the fake tail into his rear so that he would not be able to hide from them to escape." Voltaire sighed sadly. "Shack's life was not nearly as harsh."

"He wasn't born in the carnival?"

Voltaire shook his head. "No, he was very fortunate in that part." He sighed. "But since he was born with odd-eyes, and he was bigger than the average Terrible Terror, he was endlessly teased by the members of his pack, so he ran away. The gypsies offered him shelter… shelter inside a cold cage. I remember that day clearly. He became known as 'Bicolored Eyes', and was forced to perform stunts for the wealthy." He forced a toothy smile, although it was sad. "Still amazes me how despite all that, he is still nice. He can be sarcastic at times, but he is a nice dragon." He sighed again, his claws playing with the end of Muk's blanket. "And Snowdrop… poor Snowdrop."

Toothless sniffed back the tears that were already threatening to descend. He was not sure if he could bear hearing Snowdrop's sad tale.

"Snowdrop came to us as an egg. Her parents…" he paused for a second to collect himself. "Her parents were killed for their hides, and they found her egg on a nest. The gypsies were planning on cutting on her ears and tailfins, but when she hatched and turned out to be an albino, they decided not to touch her; her very scales were enough. She replaced Nighthawk as the star attraction." He looked up at Toothless, his own eyes reflecting the tears that mirrored the Night Fury's. "It was horrible, those years in that place."

Toothless's fists were tight round balls of rage. "Monsters… they were the real monsters."

"I agree," Voltaire sighed, settling himself back. "But we did escape, as you can see," he smiled. "We owe that to Nighthawk, actually."

Toothless looked at Voltaire with curious eyes. "He helped you all?"

"oh yes, it was his idea actually," he smiled. "One night, the watchman was very drunk and Nighthawk saw his opportunity. I was already in the cage and witnessed the whole thing from it. You see, he started making noise to call his attention. The watchman, who had the keys around his belt, got irritated and grabbed the whip that was normally used when any of us 'acted up', and proceeded to enter the care with every intention of beating him," Toothless was holding his breath, anticipating Voltaire's every word. "Once he entered the cage, Nighthawk attacked, tearing him to pieces. Then he shot the rest of the cages open. There were others," Voltaire explained. "But they chose to go their own way… to this day I don't know what became of them," he sighed sadly. "But One-Eye, Shack, Silk, Snowdrop, and I… we all chose to follow Nighthawk. We were just outside Paris, so we took our chances and flew through the city. I had heard of the underground caverns beneath the Opera House, and we thought we would be safe hiding there. It was Stormfly who led us here when we arrived, actually."

Toothless was amazed by the whole tale. "How long… how long have you been down here?" he asked, amazed that on one else had discovered their secret.

"Voltaire counted softly in his head. "About four years."

4 years. No one, till now, knew of their secret which had been kept well for over 4 years. "Amazing…" he whispered. "And… he saved all of you?"

Voltaire smiled proudly. "He could have run and saved his own scales, but… not out Nighthawk. He's a good dragon, truly he is."

Realization hit Toothless. "Wait… You, Nighthawk, One-Eye, Silk, Shack and Snowdrop...?"

Voltaire nodded.

"What about Muk and Glump? Weren't they in the carnival with you?"

Muk froze when Voltaire replied. "No. They were already here when we arrived."

He heard Toothless ask him. "Hey, Muk, where are you from? Why do you have those scars and Glump doesn't?"

Silence.

"It's… complicated…" should he tell him? Glump would be mad at him.

"Would you mind telling us?"

Voltaire got closer; he had no heard the Goblins' tale either.

With a resignation sigh, Muk shifted in his hammock carefully not to move his dislocated foot, to look at the ceiling.

"First of all, everyone is right when they assume Glump and I come from England. But we did not come from a Goblin clan, not that we know of at all. We were born in a human-controlled mine."

"Wait, you mean the rumors about them miners capturing Goblins to work at their mines at true?"

Muk nodded. "Yes. My mother died when I was born, but Glump's parents deserted him. Down there, it was every Goblin for himself. He never knew them, and that one fact we had in common is what made us such good friends since we were very young."

"Working at those mines could be compared to the Carnival, you know. We were only given enough food so that we would not starve, we only got four hours to rest, and if we could not work out of fatigue they whipped us to make us continue."

Voltaire gulped. "That's how you got the scars?"

"No. That was a much grave affair. See, in those mines we were forbidden to copulate-"

"You… You-"

"Not me. Glump." Muk closed his eyes. "Her name was Aliya, she was a beautiful female, in our standards at least. Glump fell madly in love with her, and she reciprocated his feelings; I was happy for him, but I knew the punishment for copulating. When the humans discovered one of the males was copulating, they nearly caught them…" the skinny Goblin lowered his ears. "I couldn't let him get caught… He _was_ my brother, he _is_ my brother. I was older than him, even though it seemed like the other way around. I took the blame for him when they were about to interrogate him, and…"

"The scars?"

Muk nodded grimly. "Yes. The whip they used on me was not like the one they usually used on us; this one had five tails, with iron shards at the end of each tail. I was lucky I didn't die out of blood loss."

"What happened next?" Voltaire inquired, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Aliya… She and Glump had copulated so many times… she got pregnant. We had a hard time keeping her pregnancy a secret from the humans, especially when her stomach swelled like a pregnant human female. When her water broke…" Muk closed his eyes shut as if to contain tears. "She was so improperly fed, she was nothing more than skin and bones… She died at childbirth."

Voltaire and Toothless felt bad for both Glump and Muk; even though Aliya had chosen his friend, Muk had seen her like the sister he never had.

"Glump was devastated. She gave birth to a surprisingly healthy boy. He was his father's living portrait, minus the hair bangs and thick body." Muk chuckled at this. "Helfer."

"What happened to him?"

Muk's humor instantly evaporated. "A few days after he was born, there was a collapse in the mine. Since the humans were killed, and our metal-hard skulls were not damaged by the collapse, we escaped. All of us. But while most of the other Goblins returned to their birth clans, Glump and I had nowhere to go, because we were raised and born inside those mines. We wandered for days around the English wilderness looking for someplace to stay."

"But solitary life is hard for a pair of Goblins with a newborn. Glump and I barely had enough food for ourselves, and Helfer needed milk to live. So, when we came cross a farm, Glump couldn't take it any longer. He didn't want Helfer to live like that, always on the run, so he made the most painful decision in his life."

Toothless knew where it was going.

"He abandoned Helfer at the farm's doorsteps." Muk felt tears coming to his eyes, but he refused to cry in front of anyone. "After that, we got on a ship that came to France, and after that we ended up here."

Toothless said nothing. Voltaire whispered. "That was horrible, Glump having to abandon his son."

Muk frowned and shifted in his hammock once more, to turn his scarred back to the dragons.

He was done talking.


End file.
